The Cutie Bonds
by Margo McKnew
Summary: [NOTE: As of the season six premiere, this is an AU!] - - - - A story just for Ani and Snowfrost, and no-one else. Happy New Year's, you two. Sincerely, Margo.
1. Chapter 1

It didn't take much for Starlight's doubts to resurface. At first, it was the little things, like Rainbow's obvious distrust and Fluttershy's involuntary squeaks of fear. In less than a week, it had become glaringly apparent that Twilight Sparkle's precious friends had no place for their "reformed" opponent. Oh, sure, they put a lot of effort into faking friendship with Starlight Glimmer, but the fact remained that she wasn't one of them. She couldn't participate in their weekly pet play dates. Picnics easily spiraled into awkwardness; it wasn't as easy to split a dozen cupcakes between seven ponies. Whoever picked up the cupcakes had to bring an extra box with Starlight's share - not the best way to make somepony feel included.

 _And don't get me started on the inside jokes_ , Starlight thought with a frown. _What in the hay is so funny about Rainbow Dash and stopping winter?_ _Honestly, I'll never be able to compete with years of shared experience._ _  
_  
The unicorn's inner pity party had been running through her mind all day, attempting to justify - to stamp out - the guilt she felt. Every so often, her thoughts interrupted themselves with a tiny cry of _Starlight! They trusted you! They actually GAVE you the benefit of the doubt and agreed not to put you under any preventative spells!_ But she forced down her discomfort. _They're fools. They're fools to think that they could hold me back again. They're fools to think their lie of friendship could... Could actually..._

A tear fell from Starlight Glimmer's downcast eyes. She jerked back and her ears flicked up in alarm. She stole a quick glance at the ponies around her. Had anypony seen that? She ducked behind a market stall out of habit. Months of following Twilight Sparkle still hadn't worn off. Luckily, everypony seemed to be minding their own business. Applejack, overseeing her produce stand, no longer felt the need to uneasily track Starlight whenever she went by. Lyra and... Bonbon, was it? They were lost in their own little world. That klutzy grey pegasus didn't seem to be looking at anything... The nervous unicorn breathed a sigh of relief. _Safe_.

 _What's wrong with me? It's nothing I haven't done before,_ Starlight Glimmer thought as she checked her saddlebags again. _I'm not even going to use it, not necessarily. It's just a precaution.  
_  
Steeling herself, the unicorn hurried into her Ponyville home. She rushed past her roommate, Golden Harvest, with a quick grin and was soon in her half-unpacked room, door locked behind her. Shuttering her windows, Starlight looked around for a suitable place to hide the parchment. _Under the floorboards? No, that's a terrible spot. In the wall? Ugh, no. Think, Starlight, where's the best place to hide a time-travel spell?_

Biting her lip, Starlight Glimmer remembered a breathing exercise Twilight had shown her. She touched a hoof to her chest, inhaled, and then held the hoof out in front of her as she breathed out. _It's fine. Everything's fine. I just need to clear my mind._ Tucking Starswirl's altered spell back into the saddlebag, the pony sat down on her dusty floor and tried to let her mind go blank. _I should have time for this,_ she mused. _Princess Celestia doesn't arrive until this afternoon and I've already done my part to prepare._

She closed her eyes and commanded herself to think of absolutely nothing. Instead, the unicorn was greeted with a cascade of guilt-inducing memories once more. Suddenly, she saw herself ducking under the cover of the Everfree forest again. It was as though she relived her choice to go back in time, make a copy of the spell she used to stop Rainbow Dash's first rainboom, and bring that copy into the present. Starswirl the Bearded's original spell had been easy enough to remember, but her altered version's layer of complexity had been oh-so-tricky to get right. So Starlight smoothed the wrinkle of doubt that had formed in her mind when the powerful parchment was drawn into the time vortex by getting the copy. _Just in case things don't work out,_ the pensive pony told herself for the millionth time. _Just in case it_ _is_ _too late to try friendship again._

Some minutes later, when Starlight was about to drift off to sleep, the idea came to her. Not noticing the unusual faint glow from her cutie mark, she began the spell immediately. A humming sound filled the room and stray papers fluttered in the magical breeze. However, this stopped about as soon as it began. All at once, the papers went still and – announcing itself with a sharp _pop_ noise – a hole opened in the air next to the unicorn. As a test, she poked her saddlebags into the hole and closed it. Then she slashed her horn across the area where the hole had been, prompting it to reappear. Sure enough, the saddlebag was safely inside. Satisfied with her work, Starlight Glimmer removed her bags, placed her time-travel spell into its nook, and sealed it in. Not one second too soon; before the hole had completely shut, a loud _KNOCK KNOCK-KNOCK KNOCK_ reverberated up to her room. "Hel-looo," an excited voice squeaked from outside. Starlight's roommate could be heard answering the door. "Oh, hey Pinkie," came Golden Harvest's greeting. "Is Starlight home? I -" Pinkie Pie launched into a rapid-fire stream of words as the pony in question rushed about her room, straightening everything in sight. "Whoa there," she heard her roommate chuckle, cutting off Pinkie's jabbering. "So what you're saying is that you wanted to visit her? That's sweet," Golden Harvest continued. "Starlight's right upstairs, honey."

One overjoyed squeal later, Pinkie Pie had burst through her friend's door and nearly sped right out the window. Luckily, Starlight used her magic to catch hold of Pinkie before she could fall. _I swear, this pony has a dose of chaos magic in her. Didn't I lock that door? Hm,_ the unicorn wondered, smiling at her visitor and gently setting her down. _It's astounding, how much the others dismiss as 'just being Pinkie.'_

"Hi, Starlight! I brought you something! It's my super-duper-deluxe-extra-cinnamon-double-cranberry-mocha tart supreme! A special new recipe especially for my _favorite_ no-longer-revenge-crazy unicorn," Pinkie exclaimed, nudging the little container whose strap she had slung over her neck.

"Aw, Pinkie. You didn't have to -" midsentence, Starlight Glimmer remembered note #34 from her Flashcards of Friendship. _Saying 'hello, hi, and other salutations' is considered friendly!_ "Um. Hello, I mean. Hi," the unicorn managed, face-hoofing herself internally. Fortunately, Pinkie didn't miss a beat; she gave a goofy grin and responded: "Salutations!" Smirking a little, Starlight offered another: "Greetings."

"Hola," came Pinkie's borderline giggle-filled reply.

"Hey there," Starlight said with a smile.

"Howdy-doo," the pink pony drawled in her best Applejack impression, crossing her front legs and smugly tilting her chin upwards. Her friend couldn't help but snicker. No longer fighting the giggles, Starlight shot back with a laughter-sprinkled "Bonjour!"

Through a cacophony of _hee-hee_ 's and guffaws, Pinkie answered with "Happy Tuesday!"

 _Huh_? "Pinkie Pie, today's _Thurs_ day," the unicorn said in confusion. Suddenly, Pinkie looked ashamed. "Oh, ummm… Sorry, Starlight, that was -"

Recognizing the other pony's look, Starlight Glimmer finished the sentence: "- an inside joke?"

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie, avoiding her friend's gaze. Predictably, she perked up after no less than two seconds and began spouting a cheery explanation: "It's just that you remind me so much of Twilight and normally I wouldn't use that joke but I felt so _close_ to you, Starlight, like I'd known you for years and years and…"

 _Is that all I am to them,_ Starlight wondered grimly, _a discount Twilight Sparkle? Even when we're not rivals, that irritating alicorn outshines me. They're… They're only doing this because they're afraid of my power._ Noticing that Pinkie had gone silent, Starlight Glimmer smiled and nodded reassuringly. She knew that Pinkie Pie could see right through a fake smile, but she didn't care. Anything to keep the conversation moving away from puddle of sadness welling up within her.

* * *

 **(A/N)** I don't mean for this to be a very sad story. Like the summary says, it's supposed to be about Starlight Glimmer finding her place in the world. **Anyhow, here's where you come in: I need someone's pony OC in order to continue the story.** The OC will be a special (and probably platonic) friend of Starlight's and will be instrumental in the chapters to come. If you are so inclined, please include your pony's personality and back-story in a review OR private message.


	2. Chapter 2

"Twi, what's this," Starlight asked the pile of books that the alicorn was last seen behind. She was holding up one of the princess' papers. "Twilight? Are you here," the unicorn called into the castle's gloom. The sound of Twilight magically appearing made Starlight jump a little. She turned around to find Twi holding a book in her mouth, looking at her friend inquisitively. After setting the book down on the table next to her, Twilight asked "What did you find, Starlight?"

"I think it's something you were working on? It looked really interesting and - oh," the unicorn stopped herself, noting the other pony's slight grimace. "I didn't mean to snoop." It didn't take much for Starlight Glimmer's worries to resurface. _I've ruined it all,_ she thought _. I've lost her trust, haven't I? Starlight, you stupid, stupid pony -_

But Twilight Sparkle's weird look had vanished the moment Starlight noticed it. "It's fine," the princess reassured. "I didn't think anypony would be looking at those, that's all. You were talking about this one, right," she said, gesturing to a spell in the middle of the paper. Starlight nodded. "Yeah, I'm not proud of that spell. I spent three hours working on it, hoping to find insight into Cutie Mark Magic, and it's completely useless," the alicorn said with a self-deprecating smile.

Starlight gave the spell a once-over, then looked back at Twilight and said "Really?" Before her friendship instructor could answer, Starlight Glimmer continued, "I was just thinking that you were onto something. See, the first variable doesn't have to be CM(x). Actually, the second variable isn't what you have here, either. And this, over here, doesn't look right -" the unicorn was pointing to various parts of the spell. She spoke about the spell in-depth for a solid five minutes, only giving Twilight time to nod in amazement every so often. The rant finished with Starlight grabbing a blank paper and her own quill and saying, "So, ah, this entire spell is not right _at all_ , but the _con_ cept behind it is groundbreaking."

The Princess of Friendship could only blink in shock. Then she shook her head quickly and peered over Starlight Glimmer's shoulder at the new spell being scratched out on parchment. She followed along with her friend's work for the first one-and-a-half lines. Then she was totally lost. "Wow. Starlight? What -"

"One second, Twi! I don't want to lose my train of thought now," the unicorn said tersely.

So Twilight watched in silence, picking out the parts of the spell she could understand. When the final symbols were written into place, Starlight murmured to herself in amazement: "I haven't had that kind of inspiration since..."

"Since when," Twilight Sparkle prompted curiously.

Realizing she'd spoken aloud, Starlight blushed and replied: "Since I thought up my equalization spell. Um, here, do you want to look it over?" _Friendship Flashcard #69 - offer to share when possible._

"I never thought I'd say this, but a lot of your spell is way over my head," the alicorn admitted. "How about you try to sum it up for me?"

"Oh. Well -" Starlight's sentence was interrupted by none other than Pinkie Pie, who rushed in and capped both of her friends' heads with umbrella hats. "What in the world! Pinkie," Starlight Glimmer sputtered. "My tail's a-twitchin'," Pinkie Pie explained, gesturing to her shuddering fluff. "You don't say," the unicorn remarked, glancing at Twilight. "I do say! I say I said what I said, silly," piped up Pinkie. "Pinkie Sense?" Starlight asked. Applejack had explained the weird phenomenon earlier, but Pinkie hadn't obviously displayed it until now. Twilight Sparkle nodded in confirmation.

"Well then, Pinkie," Starlight Glimmer said with a sighing smile, "thanks for showing up! Would you mind sticking around for a minute to help me explain this spell?"

"Sure thing!" came Pinkie's peppy reply. "What spell? Is it a spell to make cakes change flavor? Will it make something fall? My tail's still twitch-a twitch twitchin', so -"

"- JUST," Starlight interrupted hastily, "just being here should be fine. Thanks."

Pinkie Pie nodded and bounced in place. As Starlight Glimmer straightened her papers, readying the spell, Twilight whispered to the unicorn, "What are you up to, huh? Pinkie Pie's a sweetie, but she doesn't know anything about magic."

"I'm demonstrating the spell," her protégé replied in an equally hushed tone. Noting Twilight's look of uneasiness, she asked, "Will you be okay with that?" _Friendship Flashcard #42 - friends should generally respect each other's boundaries._

After a few blinks of indecision, Twilight nodded hesitantly. Then the princess smiled and said, "We trust you, remember? Go for it."

Starlight returned the smile. Then her horn began to glow with magic. Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark glowed purple, causing the alicorn's smile to falter. A hologram-like projection of the cutie mark appeared in front of the real one. "Starlight?" Twilight asked shakily, having flashbacks of cutie mark removal. "Are you sure this is -" the question was cut short by a zapping noise. A ray of light emanated from the cutie mark projection and landed on Pinkie Pie's cutie mark, as if tracing a connection between the two. Four more rays of light shot out from the hologram and harmlessly went through the castle walls. One was pointing upwards and seemed to be moving as if the thing on the other end was extremely fast. The others were either still or moving at a moderate pace. All three ponies in the room were wide-eyed with wonder.

When the light died down, Twilight said gently, "I'm not so sure if that was an improvement, Starlight. I tried the spell out before, on myself and on the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The special connections with our friends were still felt. We could even sense where our friends were... This felt about the same. Tell you what, though, the lights are new."

Suppressing a flicker of irritation beneath a patient smile, Starlight Glimmer said: "Come on, Twi, gimme a chance! I'm not done demonstrating." With that, she began casting the spell again. Doubt threatened to break the unicorn's concentration; after all, she was relying on a hypothesis she'd thought up about ten minutes ago. But hey, she'd never been one to let doubt get in the way of her ideas. Starlight felt a bit of the determination she'd had when assembling her townsponies. And for the first time in months, she almost felt whole.

A hologram of Starlight's cutie mark appeared, as it had for Twilight. Just as before, rays of light shot out from the apparition, only this time there were two instead of four. She'd successfully cast the spell on herself! The unicorn couldn't keep herself from smiling triumphantly. She looked at Twilight Sparkle, who had been stunned for the third time in less than an hour. "St- How did you - Does this mean -" stuttered the alicorn. Twilight composed herself, then asked "How did you know this would work?"

"I didn't. Do you know what this means?" The princess made as if to answer, but Starlight saved her the trouble: "This could mean that every pony in Equestria shares a special bond like you and your friends do! This spell could help ponies find the friends they're connected to via their cutie marks and -"

Starlight Glimmer's excited revelation halted when she heard a loud buzzing sound, like a light bulb going out. One of the rays emanating from her cutie mark's hologram fizzled into nothingness. The rest of the spell seemed to collapse. The room had gone dead silent. After a painful moment of realization, Starlight whispered, to herself more than anypony else, "It didn't work?"

Twilight placed her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Starlight. It's… Like the time I tried to make a cutie mark appear on Apple Bloom. The magic just fades if there's nothing actually there."

Forcing a grin, the unicorn said "Let's just forget I tried to do that, ok? Special bonds are overrated..."

All at once, the spell – hologram and beams of light and all – flared back into existence over Starlight Glimmer's flank. At the same time, a hole opened up in the ceiling over the ponies' heads. For one terrifying second, Starlight thought that her hidden time-travel spell was somehow ejecting itself. But instead of a rolled-up parchment spewing forth from the hole, a joyful-looking unicorn stallion fell out, knocking the ponies to the ground.

"Seriously?" the stallion exclaimed, dizzily shaking his black mane. "I don't appear until the end of the chapter? Way to go, M – Er, hi everypony," he said, glancing at the mares around him. Helping Twilight to her feet, he continued: "I'm Ani- well, I guess that won't make sense to anypony… Um, you can call me Ani."

"My tail stopped twitching," Pinkie Pie announced to Starlight. "Your spell _did_ make something fall!"

" _Your_ spell, huh? And it looks like you're," the stallion said, giving Starlight a gentle poke, "on the other end of this weird beam of light!"

Sure enough, one of the spell's rays connected Ani's cutie mark – a group of galaxies – to Starlight Glimmer's cutie mark. Twilight Sparkle sat down, having reached her amazement limit. Pinkie was wondering when to schedule a welcome party for the newcomer. Starlight looked overwhelmed. Ani, for his part, amicably shook the other unicorn's hoof.

"What were you saying," Pinkie Pie said playfully, "about special bonds being overrated, Starlight?"

* * *

 **(A/N)** Thanks a million for your submissions! As can probably tell from the story, Starlight Glimmer is connected to two other ponies; a triad, like the CMC. I meant to use my own OC for her other friend, but that didn't work out. So I'll be using another submitted OC to be friends with both Starlight and Ani (who, as you might have guessed, is animateduniverse's OC). I think I've picked out the second friend, but **new submissions will still be considered.** Thank you very much for reading and for letting your OCs help the story along!

animateduniverse, I hope you don't mind your OC's name being explained later on. After all, most of the other ponies won't get that they're, um... Animated.


	3. Chapter 3

She wasn't given a chance to sit awhile and think about her discovery, which was probably a good thing. Before her own brilliance could break her brain, Starlight found herself in the middle of a party, which had seemingly materialized around her. _It must've been the party cannon,_ she thought numbly, accepting the cupcake being thrust at her. Soon enough, the unicorn was swept up in Ani's welcoming celebration. It seemed like Pinkie had managed to attract all of Ponyville into Twilight's library; at least the festive noise helped dull Starlight Glimmer's shock. _Who would've guessed that after so little time around these ponies, a Pinkie Pie party would actually be able to calm me down,_ she thought. The moment "calm" entered her mind, it was snatched away again by the newly-arrived unicorn stallion. Ani happily bounced into Starlight's path, flashing the bright grin of a truly carefree pony.

For some reason, ' _I pulled him from the ceiling'_ was the first thought Starlight had upon seeing him. The unicorn shook her head, trying to focus on the energetic greetings flying from Ani's mouth. _He's like a caffeinated squirrel._ With some effort, she deduced that he was talking about the fun time they'd have together when... Jumping realities? Starlight Glimmer upped her attention level. "Whoa there, Ani, slow down," she said, blinking in disbelief. "Your special talent is -"

"- jumping realities," the stallion confirmed, beaming with pride. Starlight wasn't sure what to make of that claim, but ever since Ani had arrived, she'd been troubled by a nagging suspicion. Her spell wasn't supposed to transport anypony from place to place. When the hyperactive brown unicorn appeared, she'd felt a magical presence unlike anything she'd heard of before. _He's probably not lying,_ Starlight Glimmer decided, filled with a sudden desire to test Ani's claim. "This could change Equestria," the unicorn said, choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt. _We could unlock the secrets of our existence,_ she mused. "It's the best talent ever," her companion said earnestly, probably preparing to share a thousand stories about the places he'd been. Midsentence, his enthusiasm died down and he took on a much less hyper look, staring at something behind Starlight's shoulder. The sound of somepony clearing their throat sounded from that direction: "Ahem."

Starlight turned around; for the second time that day, the Princess of Friendship had been standing behind her. This time, it was minus the book in her mouth. Twilight had a smile there instead. "Congratulations," the alicorn said over the lively chatter, "on getting the spell to work. This discovery could change everypony's lives."

"Thanks, Twilight," Starlight Glimmer replied. She wanted to say more - _I'm excited to study it further, it was nothing, anything_ \- but her voice was buckled by uncertainty. Why did it feel so disturbing to succeed in front of the Princess? Oblivious to her protégé's turmoil, Twilight turned to Ani, adopted a kind look and said, "On behalf of Ponyville, welcome! You'll find that the ponies here are always ready to embrace new friends."

"I can tell," the stallion answered jovially. "Starlight here is a blast to hang out with."

At that, Twilight stole a look at her friend's tired, vaguely distracted face. Starlight had a penchant for looking far more serious than the ponies around her. Twilight Sparkle briefly smiled, thinking that Ani had been exaggerating, but he didn't show any sign of sarcasm. "You really think so," the Princess asked with a touch of disbelief. Nopony had warmed up to the reformed unicorn so quickly.

"You'd be the first to say that, Ani," Starlight stated, coincidentally saying what Twilight had thought. The other unicorn made an exaggerated face of surprise. Then he leaned towards the alicorn and stage-whispered: "I feel like she cares about what I'm saying..!"

Starlight Glimmer's face took on a subtle blush. For some reason, this near-stranger had made her feel genuinely appreciated for the first time in months.

* * *

"In which direction did it point?"

"Right over there," the little filly answered, "it went straight through the mantle."

"Sugar Charm, the mantle does not look changed at all."

"I know," Sugar Charm whined, stamping her hoof. "But I'm telling you that it went through. It just... Didn't break anything."

"I believe you," the filly's older brother said hastily, soothing the child. He didn't doubt that the mysterious beam of light had really existed. He was only trying to figure out where it came from and what it had done. It made him feel uneasy; nopony liked magic touching their cutie marks after the whole Tirek incident. "The mailpony saw it, too, Sugar."

"Then you'll see where it went, huh? 'Cause I looked out the window and it went all the way out of town!"

"Little one," he chuckled, giving the top of her head an affectionate rub. "I am not going to the ends of Equestria solely because of the appearance of a random light."

"You won't _have_ to! See," the filly squealed, trotting over to the dining room table and bringing back a map of Equestria. "The only town that lines up with that thingy is Ponyville!"

"Fillydelphia is also nearby," the stallion noted with a wry grin.

"This is _not_ the time for testing your sister's map skills! I'm right, ok? This is the time for action, Solar Moon!"

She was onto him so easily; he could never teach her anything anymore without her catching on. "Tell you what," he began, glancing at the town outside and wishing he'd been awake when the beam appeared, "I will be near Ponyville in a few days, when I visit Canterlot. If, and only if, I get the chance, I shall make a visit."

Sugar Charm looked vaguely satisfied with that answer. After a moment's pause, she began running around their cottage like wildfire. "Do you have everything packed," she shouted, eager for her brother to have another adventure to tell her about. "Sugar – Sugar Charm," he called in response, "I have a spell for that. Sugar! I won't need a whip, of all things; it is merely a week's worth of magic training."

The filly skidded to a stop in front of him, holding a small chair in her mouth. "Do I get to come with you," she asked, words muffled by the chair. Solar Moon frowned and shook his head. He was in no way prepared to look after a child on his trip. The little one, bless her, would probably get a cutie mark related to travel. His special talent, on the other hoof, was anything but travel. _Not that I'm actually sure on that point,_ he thought. The meaning of Solar Moon's cutie mark had long been unclear to him. He'd discovered a comet at a young age, but instead of flaunting his discovery, he organized an event. There were several ponies that he'd always thought would be wonderful friends; they were always too busy to meet up. So he pretended he hadn't _seen_ the comet before, but had merely calculated its path. Suddenly, everypony's calendars were cleared up. Seeing a new comet was a big deal, after all. At the event, the attending ponies got along famously. His older sister, Selene Twinkle, met her future husband at the event. Curiously enough, that was when Solar Moon's cutie mark - a moon encircled by stars - appeared. Because of the circumstances, he was never sure if his special talent was initiating friendships around a common interest, like pulling celestial bodies into orbit around something bigger, or astronomy, which would be more obvious. So he studied the cosmos for a living, leaving his hobby of finding potential friendships for disparate ponies to his spare time.

"That's not fair. I'm old enough to come with you, Solar," his little sister was saying. He was about to reply, but Sugar Charm cut him off in a huff: "Just promise you'll tell me every single thing about the trip when you get back, okay? Bet your shiny gold flanks that you'll tell me everything."

"I will not bet the color of my coat," he muttered, before taking on a normal tone and saying, "I shall tell you everything, dear sister, as I always do."

Sugar nodded decisively. That was all she'd wanted to hear.

* * *

Meanwhile, the originator of the beam of light was facing a far less tame situation. Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle were locked in battle, firing magic at each other and scarring the earth with flames. The entire world was a barren wasteland, devoid of surface activity save for the clashing superpowers and two unicorns peering out of a trench. "Starlight," Ani said to the unicorn next to him. He was visibly straining to keep the fear out of his words. "Why is this reality so close to our own?"

The mare was silent, her gaze fixed on the deadly light show taking place above. She thought she'd glimpsed her alternate self's face. It was disfigured with hate and weariness; hatred was the only thing keeping that monster in the fight. Ani began to think she hadn't heard him. When Starlight Glimmer finally spoke up, her voice was cracked with emotion: "I was so close to rejecting Twilight's reasoning."

She regretted asking Ani to show her an alternate universe. Starlight wasn't eager to see a world filled with the smoke of machines or weird, bipedal creatures, so she asked to see someplace _just a little_ different. "I never go to those ones," Ani had complained, "They're all pretty much the same! They're a real bore, Starlight Glimmer!"

"Think of it as a test run," she'd suggested to the stallion. "You don't usually take anypony with you, correct?"

"Tr-r-r-r-rue," he admitted, tilting his head to one side. "It's kinda hard to take anything with me."

"Then this might not work at all! I think it would be a lot better to end up in someplace safe if things go wrong, okay?"

"Littlest Pet Shop is pretty darned safe!"

"I wouldn't know," she reminded him. Starlight wasn't even sure if her magic would work in a weird place like the ones he'd described. Eventually, she _did_ figure out a way to come with him, but it was rather exhausting. So they sat in a trench, waiting for the tired unicorn to recover, and watched the other Starlight Glimmer trying to kill the Princess of Friendship above.

"I always knew I had that in me," she murmured.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry about the wait; I really picked the wrong time in my life to take on another story. But for anyone's who's stuck around, here's an longer-than-regular chapter for ya! I chose Webbowriter's OC, Solar Moon, as Starlight's other friend. This is because Webbowriter gave me room to alter the character. Plus, the character seemed like one we'd actually see in the show. I'm probably going to lose most of my readers after this, huh? Sorry if anyone feels they've been strung along and thanks again for reading. ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

_(Snowfrost, Ani, the A/N at the end is mostly for you :)_

* * *

 _He probably thinks I'm a monster after seeing that reality_ , Starlight thought grimly. She hated wondering about things like that. Twilight attributed such thoughts to the early stages of friendship, which didn't help. There weren't a lot of examples of new friendships in Ponyville; everyone had been friends for years. She hated that she couldn't stop worrying about whether she'd screwed up a friendship forever. She hated caring this much about what other ponies thought. It was easier to be a leader or an outcast; Starlight was used to ponies looking up to her or not looking at her at all. When she was a leader, it was clear what she needed ponies to feel about her: Fear and admiration. Now she was struggling to keep track of what all her "friends" wanted from her. Pinkie Pie needs to see evidence of joy. Rarity loves it when you put up with her sudden fits of dress-up - er, generosity. Applejack does not need help, 'an that's final... Except for when she does.

 _And what about this newcomer, this "Ani" guy that my spell says is connected to me_ , the unicorn mused. _It's not like he's tasked with the safety of Equestria. He doesn't have to fake friendliness._ She nudged the ground with her hoof and stopped under the shade of a tree. Ponyville's park had proven to be an excellent place to get away. There were empty swaths of it that reminded her of what her town was supposed to be. _All it needs is two neat rows of houses... Ugh. Stop lying to yourself, Starlight. Nopony was happier without their cutie marks._

Twilight's friends had been telling her at every turn that she'd been wrong. Sure, they never said it outright, but she got the idea. Every time they did, Starlight Glimmer tried to reassure herself that the town wouldn't have failed. _If I'd had more time. If it weren't for Twilight. If the plan had worked out._

The string of _If's_ got weaker each time they came to mind. She'd been back to the town. She'd seen how easily the ponies made friends without her. _In the end, I didn't solve their problems. I just forced them to have some of mine._

"Boo," somepony said playfully, right in the brooding unicorn's ear. Starlight's hair stood on end; she nearly leapt into the tree branches overhead. Ani, standing right next to her, was wearing his customary goofy grin. "Did you come all the way out here because we were playing hide and seek," he asked, smiling. She cast a half confused, half irritated look at him, wondering whether he was serious. Then she saw that the smile wasn't reaching his eyes, which held the same expression they'd had in that awful alternate reality. "If so," he was saying, "I win! Now you get to find me!"

"Ani," Starlight Glimmer sighed. "Listen, you don't have to -" suddenly, her breath hitched and her eyes rolled back into her head, showing only the whites. Ani, who was shocked into feeling quite alarmed and overwhelmed all at once, noticed that his almost-friend was fainting and could faceplant any second now. _I should catch her. I should catch her. I should catch her,_ he thought frantically, but he couldn't move a muscle. _Sweet Celestia, what a great time for me to freeze up._

In a blast of wind and a multicolored flash, Rainbow Dash appeared in front of him, propping up the unicorn mare. "What in the hay is going on here," the pegasus demanded, looking every bit as bewildered and concerned as Ani did. "It worked! Holy horsefeathers," Starlight sputtered, scaring both ponies. Rainbow shot away from her in alarm, leaving the stallion to catch his companion. This time, his reflexes didn't fail him. Starlight Glimmer coughed and Rainbow sheepishly fluttered back down. Then the pegasus checked herself, clearing any trace of alarm from her face, and said to Starlight: "Was that supposed to some kind of joke?"

Instead of answering, the unicorn looked around dizzily, and then seemed to blink in recognition. "Oh," she said to herself, "That's how it went." Then, addressing Rainbow Dash and Ani together, she continued calmly: "I assure you, this isn't a joke. I apologize for what you're about to go through, but I didn't prepare enough to stop it. My spell should drag me back in a few moments. Also, when your Starlight is here again, she'll throw up." The pony in Starlight Glimmer's place was standing on her own now, which was probably for the better. Both Ani and Rainbow didn't seem eager to touch the nonsense-spouting weirdo. "Lady, I don't know who or what you are," the blue-coated pony began, "but you'd better stop talking in riddles before I kick your flank to Las Pegasus..." What was intended to be an intimidating show of Rainbow Dash bravado lost steam as she realized Starlight had repeated her sentence word-for-word as she'd said it.

"What -"

"Is going on here? Well," the possessed unicorn said, finishing Dashie's sentence, "Past Starlight and I have switched bodies. That's present Starlight Glimmer for you two. I'm from a week or so in the future - gosh, I don't know. I lost count of the days. It's been so stressful, Ani, and I can't thank you enough for sticking by my side - oh," future Starlight interrupted herself, "that hasn't happened yet, right. You know what? I'm here right now because I'm testing a solution to something I really, really screwed up. So I'll just save myself the trouble. Solar Moon is - Wait, no, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Solar Moon's a great guy, so don't hurt him or anything. Just don't let him -" the unicorn trembled violently. In a blink, Ani was next to her again, ready to prevent a face-plant. Breathing heavily, future Starlight continued, "I - ah - I mean, don't let me - huff - use the spell without -!" Her entire body shuddered and her lavender eyes turned to pure white. She went limp, ragdoll style, and was gently lowered to the grass by Ani. "Rainbow Dash," he said, "you should probably get a bucket and a mop.

After a split second of confusion, the pegasus remembered what Miss time traveler had said about Starlight throwing up when she gets back. With a quick nod, she launched herself away in search of the items. About a minute later, she returned to find that the two ponies were now faced with a sickly orange pile of barf in front of Starlight Glimmer. Apparently the future-visitor had been right. For some reason, Ani was smiling. Rainbow thought he was being an insensitive pig. Then she noticed that Starlight was weakly smiling, too. "How can you think of joking right now," the reformed villain said as Dashie landed alongside them. She looked like she might collapse again, but whatever Ani said seemed to be helping. "Better yet, how can _you_ laugh right now," the stallion replied, almost back to the level of pep he'd arrived with. "Nopony laughs at that one."

"They're not used to puns about the nature of reality, I guess," Starlight sighed, slowly shaking her head in amusement.

"That's it," chuckled Ani. Then, to Rainbow Dash, he said: "Thanks," taking the bucket from her, he began pushing the vomit into it with his magic. Soon, Starlight Glimmer was able to stand up again. They told her what she'd said a few moments ago and she was able to confirm that yes, she'd been in the future while her future self was talking to them. "I was in the Castle of the Two Sisters," the unicorn recalled, "Princess Twilight was there too, but she was acting weird. Her wings kept knocking stuff over and it seemed like she didn't want to talk to anypony, much less offer royal guidance."

"Speaking of the Princess," Rainbow interjected, "you should probably tell the rest of this to her, too."

"Right," agreed Starlight. "I'm not a big fan of repeating myself." Not wasting a second, she unsteadily turned towards Ponyville and started her trot to Twilight. Ani made as if to follow her, but the sky-blue pegasus put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Thanks for helping out with her," Rainbow Dash said, glancing in the direction their companion had gone. "But that's what my friends and I are supposed to be doing. It's, like, our duty to Equestria. So don't feel like you have to put up with anything, buddy."

"Dash," answered Ani, pawing the grass with his hoof, "that's not it. I'm not just putting up with her." His eyes flicked towards the place where Starlight had gone, seeing how long it would take to catch up. He explained in a rush, almost blurring his words together: "No other pony has understood my talent. You don't know what that's like, Dashie; you're a fast pegasus in a reserve force of fast pegasi. I mean, a couple other ponies understood what I do, but they didn't want to give friendship a try. You know those bookish types, huh? Anyway, Starlight Glimmer doesn't wanna experiment on me and she laughs at my jokes and she was able to jump realities with me and - and that's rare, that's worth something, Rainbow Dash, even cleaning up puke. I think she and I could be part of a team, y'know?"

He'd said all that in about fifteen seconds. The cloud-kicker found herself thinking that he could give Pinkie a run for her money when it came to talking. Meanwhile, the stallion hadn't finished: "What I'm saying is, you don't have to worry about me taking on your duties. It's nothing when it's for a friend, Dashie. Now let's go! We were supposed to follow her a whole paragraph ago."

* * *

"Wait!"

A light grey unicorn stallion burst into Solar Moon's stone-and-log home, frantically throwing his head from side to side to see whether his friend had already left.

"Yeesh, Doc, calm your calves. My big brother's right upstairs," Sugar Charm called from the kitchen, her tone hinting at exasperation.

With a quick nod of gratitude to the filly, Dr. Quasar charged up the stairs. One hallway and a door later, the stallion skidded to a stop before Solar Moon, who was stowing a final few items into his bags. The grey unicorn produced a neat stack of papers from a large pocket on his lab coat and presented them to his friend. "Please, can you take these with you," he beseeched.

"Greetings, Doctor," responded Solar Moon, his features alight with a half-smile. "It is good to see you. How are you doing?"

"Really, Moon," Dr. Quasar grumbled. "I'm fine. Hello. Can you take these or not?"

"Ever the conversationalist," the golden unicorn sighed, taking a scarf out of his saddlebags. "Yes, I have room for those. I take it your mother has gotten worse?"

The scholar nodded. "I want to go with you, of course, but she needs me here," he said, placing the papers alongside his friend's bags. "Will it be too much trouble for you to run those by the Princess of Magic on your way to Canterlot? I included some notes on what you should say..."

"I can see that," Solar Moon said with a smirk, skimming over the papers' first page. He raised an eyebrow. "'Ask for her picture'? Quasar, what-"

"Only if there's time! Read the rest of the note, for Celestia's sake," the grey unicorn huffed, refusing to make eye contact.

"No need to be defensive, my friend. There is no shame in making a request of your companions..." The doctor's expression relaxed. "...though I question your need of _another_ picture."

"Scoundrel," Dr. Quasar complained, "cut that out. Just promise me you'll get those back safely, all right? That's five years of study in your hooves."

"Doctor," Solar Moon said, suddenly dead serious, "I swear I shall deliver these with care. You can count on me, as always."

"I know," his friend sighed.

"I apologize if I caused any doubt. However, I am curious; what spells will I reveal to the Princess on your behalf?"

"Oh," the grey stallion said, adjusting his glasses. "There's a few spells that'd take a while to explain, but the one I'm really proud of has to do with body swapping. Specifically, swapping bodies with your past self…"

* * *

A/N: Snowfrost, it's not that I don't like hybrids! I didn't choose your character because the alicorn amulet is too crazy powerful and could probably overcome any conflict in the story. Also, (animateduniverse and Snowfrost) do you guys want to keep in touch some other way? If you do, I could make another story and then delete it so that you could share phone numbers without worrying about weirdoes getting ahold of them. This concludes the crazy long Author's Note and chapter. Did this get boring at in any parts? Ok ok HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL :D

~Margo


	5. Chapter 5

"ANGEL," Fluttershy roared, utterly devoid of her usual timidity. "I don't give a flying feather about your excuses! You get down here right this instant!" She stared up the tree with narrowed eyes and pinprick pupils. Her douchebag bunny pet had kicked - kicked! - a baby ferret and stolen the sweetened milk she'd prepared for it. Angel could get away with doing that to _her_ , but a sweet, harmless baby ferret? Oh, no. No no no. _I've_ _excused his behavior for far too long,_ Fluttershy thought, slowly flying up to search the treetop. The edges of her vision were tinged with red. _He's not just a baby bunny anymore. He has to learn -_

The sound of hoofbeats on the dirt path brought Fluttershy back to reality. What was she about to do to Angel? Umm... "Excuse me! Miss," a male voice called out. "Pray tell, am I nearing Ponyville?"

Making an effort to steady her breaths, the pegasus turned her head and found a green-and-blue maned stallion looking up at her. "Yes," she told him, regaining a measure of her usual composure. "It's right down the way. Let me, ah, be the first to welcome you, sir."

"Thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you, miss..?"

"Fluttershy," she said, searching the treetop with her eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you, Fluttershy. I'm Solar Moon." He paused for a moment, taking in the pegasus's predicament. From his perspective, he could see a white rabbit standing stock-still a knothole. A leaf landed on the creature's tiny pink nose. On one side of the tree stood Angel, whose ear twitched. On the other, Fluttershy was lunging towards that flicker of movement. All at once, the poor tree was entangled in a fast-moving blur of white, pink, and yellow.

Solar Moon's jaw dropped. There weren't a lot of pegasi where he lived, but the ones he'd met hadn't shown a tendency to chase such innocent-looking rabbits. He shook off his confusion and grabbed Angel out of the air with his magic.

The interruption seemed to snap Fluttershy out of it. Before he could form a proper response to anything about the situation, she explained what her bunny had done. With that settled, the unicorn gave her the squirming miscreant, which she tucked snugly under her wing. "Thank you so much for helping me with Angel," Fluttershy told the stallion.

"It was no problem, Miss Fluttershy."

"Still, you made things a whole lot easier. I don't usually have to chase Angel bunny."

"Well then," Solar Moon said with a smile, "I hope he does not get away from you again! Good day, Miss."

"Oh, that's right, you're going to Ponyville. I can guide you for the rest of the way, if you like. The paths around here can be awfully confusing if you don't know them."

"That is very kind of you to offer! I do have difficulty navigating without the stars... Are you taking Angel with you?"

"Oh. One moment, please," Fluttershy said as she briskly trotted back into her house. After she'd given the baby ferret its milk back and shut Angel up in her room, the pegasus was on the path and ready to guide her acquaintance to Ponyville. With a gratuitous amount of thanks on both sides, the two set off. Less than five steps later, they came to a halt. A brown unicorn was trotting towards them. "Fluttershy! Hi," he called, "Who's your new friend?"

"Ani, good to see you." the mare said softly.

"Wait, so his name is my name too," Ani impishly queried.

"Ah, no," Fluttershy replied, slightly confused. She gestured to the pony beside her. "His name is -"

"John Cena?"

"What? No," the gold stallion and Fluttershy said in unison. "My name is Solar Moon," the stallion continued. "I am curious. Do I resemble a 'John Cena'?"

"Ha, never mind," Ani laughed. "That joke's gotten old, anyways. Solar Moon, huh?" Recognition flashed in the joker's eyes. "So you're here already! Everypony's gonna be terrified to meet you. But you'll find the ponies here to be very friendly folk! They've been some of the nicest ponies I've ever met. That's why I'm here, actually, because one such nice pony needed me to return a brush to Fluttershy. Here you go, Fluttershy -" he levitated the brush towards its owner "- Starlight's got her own now. It's such a nice day out, did ya notice? Perfect day for a walk, which I guess is what you two are doing. You're going to Ponyville, right? Right, of course you are - well, I'll walk along with you and help introduce Solar Moon here to everypony so Fluttershy won't have to talk-"

"Ex- Ahem. Excuse me," Solar Moon said as soon as he could get a word in. The avalanche of speech was overwhelming, to say the least. "What was that about being terrified?"

With a little laugh and a shake of his head, Ani said "You know, the reaction that people have to fate rearing its unrelenting head! Hilarious, right? C'mon, let's get you to Twilight Sparkle!" The stallion scarcely finished the last syllable before he turned and motioned for the newcomer to follow.

The golden unicorn didn't know what to make of this response, so he dismissed it for the time being. After all, this "Ani" fellow hardly seemed like a serious pony. So Solar Moon shot a bemused glance at Fluttershy and started trailing after the joyful stallion. 

* * *

Starlight had stopped her teacher outside of the castle. She arrived in a tizzy, still disoriented from throwing up and spontaneously time-traveling. Luckily, Rainbow Dash was there to give her account of what had happened, too. "And so I told her 'Lady, I don't know who or what you are, but you'd better stop talking in riddles before I kick your flank to Las Pegasus.' Twilight, you know that's not something I say a lot, right? Like, it'd be totally cool if I did, but I'm nice. So Starlight was acting weird already and when I said that, she said it with me, like she knew what I'd say."

Twilight nodded and looked at Starlight Glimmer expectantly. Starlight was muttering Dashie's sentence under her breath, reasoning that she'd have to memorize it to prove herself to future/past Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus, for her part, kept relaying what the body-swap victim had missed. "So I raced into town, faster than the speed of thunder, and heroically began my search for a bucket. It was a close battle with time as my adversary! I -"

"Rainbow," the Princess said, hoping to get some important details before either pony forgot them.

"-scoured the citizens' cleaning closets for something, anything to aid in my righteous quest -"

" _Rainbow,_ " Twilight tried again, wondering if her friend's internal narration was always like this.

"-but to no avail! Finally, with despair creeping into my valiant heart, I threw open the door to one final janitor's-"

" _Rainbow_ _Dash_!"

With a mischievous smirk and a whisper that sounded like "buy my book," the young flier shut up.

"Ahem. I was trying to ask if either of you know where that stallion, Ani, went," said Twilight. "He was there, too, wasn't he? Time travel is no laughing matter, and as somepony with experience in this matter, I – Yes, what is it, Starlight? You look like you need to say something."

"I let him return something to Fluttershy for me," the unicorn said, looking wearily exasperated. "I was supposed to return it yesterday and he wanted me stop worrying about it… I'm sorry, Princess, I wasn't thinking straight."

"You're still not thinking straight," Twilight noted, casting a worried look at her pupil. "Starlight… What exactly did you see in the future?"

The pink-coated unicorn's mind nearly shut down with anxiety. Everything she'd seen in that future had pointed to a huge screw-up on her part. The moment she realized that, it was all she could think about. The books her future self had been studying, the way Twilight had been acting; most of all, the note that she'd started reading. _Dear Past Starlight_ , it began. _You screwed up with a spell._ The note was one of many, all crumpled up and scratched out and rewritten. The poor mare didn't even know how exactly she went wrong. What good would it do to tell somepony when she didn't know it herself? Would spilling the beans make everypony lose what little faith they had in her? Would keeping it a secret keep her from getting help and end up with her ruining the spell?

Seeing Starlight Glimmer's conflict, Twi offered some helpful advice: "You shouldn't worry too about what you saw. Until we have evidence of alternate timelines, it's safe to assume that it'll happen no matter what you do. So… Believe me, there's no point stressing about it."

Bored with the other ponies' discourse, Rainbow Dash had shot into the air and was flying in lazy loops, waiting for a chance to talk. So it's no surprise that she saw Solar Moon first. He emerged from the forest, flanked by a bouncing brown unicorn and a slightly-smiling Fluttershy. The group was headed straight for Twilight's castle; they sped up once it came into view. Though a less observant pony might not have been able to make it out, Dash could see Ani mouthing five words: "It's him. It's Solar Moon."

"Um, guys," the pegasus called down to her friends, "you sure you don't wanna stress about it? Because whatever caused Starlight's weird future is happening. We've got company, Twilight."

"What's that supposed to mean," the purple scholar asked. Rainbow landed in front of her. "It means the guy that Future Starlight mentioned is here: Solar Moon. Look, here they come."

* * *

Introductions were made. Twilight was excited to learn about Dr. Quasar's spells; it gave her some idea of what future she was in for. Solar Moon slowly caught on to what was happening. Starlight wanted to try out her cutie bond spell, to see if fate had brought her, Ani, and the golden unicorn together for a reason. Rainbow Dash was feeling highly suspicious and watched the new pony like a hawk. Ani wondered if he'd get a chance to reveal his back story. Twilight Sparkle called her friends, Ani, and Solar into her library so they could discuss some way of planning for and dealing with the future. They had no way of knowing just how soon everything would be thrown into disarray.

A/N: I'm thinking I should just delete this story. What do you think?

And Ani, I should've told you this earlier, but part of the premise of this story is that all ponies share a bond with some other ponies through their cutie marks. They're linked through an event, like the CMC and the Mane 6. Ani and Starlight are supposed to share a bond like this, so I don't know how much your character's backstory can fit into all this. Sorry ~


	6. Chapter 6

Starlight's hoofbeats echoed across the cold crystal floor of Twilight's library. Her vision was blurred with fatigue and she had a throbbing headache from her bizzare day. All told, it was probably not the best time for her to be practicing magic. Nevertheless, she dragged herself to her usual spot, where she'd had her breakthrough with the Cutie Bond spell earlier. _Everything's as I left it,_ the unicorn noted as she flicked on a reading lamp. Outside, the moon had begun it's nightly transit across the sky. The castle was dead silent except for the muffled noises of Twilight Sparkle and the newcomer discussing magic over dinner a few rooms away.

 _The real problem with the Cutie Bond spell,_ Starlight thought, _is that everyone can tell when I'm casting it. There has to be a way to turn down the light show. If I could get rid of the lights all together and still know the location of the other connected ponies..._ The gears started to turn in Starlight Glimmer's mind. What if she could see the connection on a map? She couldn't ask the Princess to let her near the Cutie Map. That would be weird. _Besides, Twilight's having dinner on it,_ Starlight thought, biting her lip. However, the thought didn't faze her. Her mind kept racing, connecting the strings. She'd read a passage about Equestrian Mapmaking the other week. Mapmakers, like everypony else, relied on Equestria's layered magic to excel at their craft. The land is infused with magic, but it goes deeper in some places than in others. Ponyville has an average, shallow layer of magic - just enough to let unicorns lift things - while the Everfree forest's layer is significantly deeper and more turbulent. Recent studies had shown that a pony's cutie mark is a lifeline to Equestria's deepest magic, the magic that weaves through fate and time. Most ponies and unicorns can't access this magic directly. But if their cutie mark signifies arcane talent...

Starlight Glimmer scanned the shelves for the book she'd read on mapmaking. True, she was no mapmaker, but the method seemed to be right up her alley. All she'd have to do was tap into Equestria's magic - since it touched everything - get a sense of it, and imprint the layer onto a scroll. _Which should result in a proper magical map, which should be compatible with a revised Cutie Bond spell. Easy as pie._ She set up the book next to her spell and began writing Cutie Bond Spell v3. Soon, she had the slight changes written out. _This part of the spell should start last... Done!_ Confident that she could now try out the Cutie Bond spell with relative privacy, Starlight saw no reason not to begin right away. _One more spell and I go to sleep,_ the mare thought with a smile. It was comforting to know that despite everything that had changed in her life, she still couldn't get to bed on time if she wanted to. _It's always one more thing._ Then she cleared her mind and began her enchantment.

Almost immediately, crap hit the fan. She'd never to tap Equestria's magic in Twilight's castle before. She never realized just how deep the castle's magic went. It was an enormous cold spot, a deep ocean trench right beneath her feet, trapped beneath a harmonious crystal shell. It was a cutie mark's tie to fate times a million. Starlight had offhandedly decided to cast the mapmaking spell and the edited Cutie Bond spell together, so the map would just appear with the locations of her linked friends already on it. She'd never regretted a small decision more in her life. _It's not the right spell, she realized, all too late._ _This is not my spell._ The castle's magic was terrifying. It coursed through her like water shoots through a leak in a dam, forcing her to bring the spell to fruition or attempt to stop the raw, crushing power with her mortal soul. The room was completely alight, and some part of Starlight Glimmer realized her coat was glowing. The rest of her mind was stretched across all of Equestria's future and past. The deafening, overwhelming amount of information was too much to handle, but the sheer force of the magic kept her standing. She could feel the castle's connection to the Tree of Harmony. She could feel its connection to... Her friends! No. No. No!

She tried to make her horn go numb, to stop the hurricane rushing through her. There was a split-second flicker in the magical glow... Then a bolt of pain shot through her, setting every nerve in her body on fire. The spell continued, strong as ever, but now it felt like magic was being sandblasted through her instead of poured. A note of despair resonated in Starlight's heart. She knew what she was doing; she was casting the spell that her future self had warned of. She didn't know how or why it was where her Cutie Bond spell had been. It didn't matter, either, because she was screwing everything up again.

 _This is why they don't trust me._

 _This is why they're afraid of me._

 _I can't do anything but fail._

With each thought, despair darkened the unicorn's heart. Then she realized how she was feeling. _When did I start thinking like this_ , Starlight wondered, halting her tears. _I'm the pony who figured out the equalizing spell._ The pain began to fade. _I'm the pony who stopped the Sonic Rainboom._ She steeled herself. _Fate is nothing to me._ She concentrated on her horn, on the power flooding through it; it was only magic, the thing she'd studied all her life. Her cutie mark, her talent, her fate; they were built around controlling it. _I am Starlight Glimmer_ , the mage thought, shaking with effort. _I am above this._

She closed her grip around the tempest.

* * *

There weren't many situations that could cause Solar Moon to panic. Deadlines didn't faze him. Temper tantrums from his sis were nothing. Meeting new ponies was a cinch. But being alone in an unfamiliar castle, with a passed-out Princess to boot? He was treading the line between discomfort and panic in ten seconds flat.

Twilight had collapsed into her soup as he presented Dr. Quasar's third spell; normally, that would make him think he'd bored her to sleep. However, the entire room had lit up with the light of a supernova just a few moments before, so he was inclined to think it was connected to that. _Besides_ , the unicorn had told himself, _she was paying more attention than I was._ His instinct was to try formulating a plan of action.

 _You know some basic first aid_ , _Solar Moon_ , his rational mind began.

 _You don't know where the nearest first aid supplies are, dummy,_ his panic countered. _You don't know where anything is here!_

 _That's ok. I know where the exit is,_ rationality soothed. _Let's go get help._

The stallion let out a little groan. _Solar Moon, you turd-brain,_ panic groused. _Nopony is awake at this hour to help you. And if they are, they'll think you knocked out their Princess.  
_  
Twilight Sparkle's head had fallen onto the bowl in a way that made the bowl tip all the soup into her mane. It was a pitiful sight to behold. Solar looked at her, wondering if he should stay and make sure she was all right or go get help. Her ear twitched. Suddenly, the hair on the back of the stallion's neck stood up. He looked behind him just in time to see a hole in the air closing as Ani hopped out of it. Solar Moon locked eyes with him for a moment before the newcomer began scanning the room purposefully. Ani's gaze rested on Twilight for a moment before he turned to Solar again and asked, "Have you seen Starlight?"

 _Starlight... Glimmer? One of the ponies from earlier?_ "Not since I met her," Solar Moon replied. "Sorry. I do not know where she might be."

A guttural yell echoed distantly in the castle. Seeing that the joker was about to dash away, the gold-coated unicorn yelped "Wait!" Ani paused midair in a leap towards the dining room's large doors. As he slowly lowered to the ground, Solar tried to choke out a question. He didn't know what to say first.

"The kitchen is down the hall, to your left," Ani said quickly. "Our royal Twiness here is probably about to throw up! Be prepared for that. Ok? Mister Moony, I will be back in a minute."

Ani was gone in a blink. Staring at the swinging doors the unicorn had left behind him, Solar Moon's voice started working again: "Don't call me that," he creaked.

* * *

Ani found his friend on the library's floor, yelling in frustration. "Ani!" Starlight Glimmer cried out, "Thank goodness you're here! I can't move my legs!"

"You didn't pass out," the stallion said, relieved.

"Nope," Starlight replied. "I've never been more awake in my life." She hesitated, as if she already knew the answer, before asking: "Did I -"

"Cast a spell that switched the bearers of the elements of harmony with their past selves? I think you did, Starlight."

The mare sighed. "Of course," she murmured. "They _are_ connected to the Tree of Harmony."

"You tapped into Equestria's magic in here, didn't you?"

"That obvious," she asked with a wry chuckle.

"Obvious to me," he confirmed, "and anypony else who was paying attention." The stallion made as if to say something, then seemingly stopped mid-thought and said something else: "You said your legs aren't working. Is your magic still working? 'Cause if it isn't, I understand why you didn't make yourself some crutches or something…"

"Oh, right," Starlight said, magically lifting up her body. "I forgot I can just do this."

She floated herself to the library's door, motioning for Ani to come along. "Let's see if everypony's still alive or if I was finally the death of them," the purple-maned unicorn said, half-joking.

"Can I just say something really quick? Wait, I'm already saying something. I'll just -"Ani took a deep breath. "Starlight, you lit up the entire top layer of Equestrian magic. In the after burn, I saw a few ponies' minds falling into the past." His speech sped up with nervous energy. "That's what I'm doing, you know, when I jump realities – I have to dive through layers of magic, so I'm familiar with this kinda thing. And I figured that the Princess' friends were the ones in trouble because – because I was talking to Rainbow Dash when she passed out midair and… And Starlight, I've seen so many worlds, all with their own magic – I've seen a lot – but whatever it is you just did, that was new. "

"Wait, slow down," Glimmer interrupted, "you might actually understand this more than I do."

"Don't sound so surprised!"

"I'm not! Come on, Ani, you're a lot smarter than you make everypony think," the mare chuckled, floating towards the door.

"What's that supposed to mean," Ani called after her, "Starlight!"

* * *

 **Later…**

The midday sun shone over Ponyville. A mail pegasus approached the passed-out pegasus, who was comfortably face down in the grass.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Mmph," the flier responded. "Telegram for Rainbow Dash," the mailpony continued, feeling more than a little awkward. "The Wonderbolts-"

The pegasus sprung awake and swung her head around crazily. "Wonderbolts! Are they answering all those letters I wrote? Has the day finally come? Do I get to join..!"

"Er, yes..? They're requesting your presence as backup for an event held in Luna's honor."

Rainbow let out a happy squee as she snatched the telegram from the messenger, read it, and began doing happy barrel rolls over Ponyville's park. Even as she rocketed away from the mailpony, her cries of "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!" could be heard all across town. Dizzy with joy (and barrel rolls) she promptly crashed into a tree.

"They're letting anyone into the reserves nowadays," the mailpony muttered, straightening his bags and trotting away.

* * *

Tiny tugs on her pink mane pulled Fluttershy awake. She blinked a few times, eventually focusing on the critters in front of her face.

"Oh, hello," the pegasus mare said softly. She lifted her head up and looked at the assortment of birds, mice, and bunnies around her. _Oh my,_ Fluttershy thought. _There are so many unfamiliar faces! Did something happen to bring them all here overnight?_

She stood up and gave her animals a little smile. _I... Fell asleep on the floor? I don't remember that. I don't remember..._ "Oh," the pale yellow pony gasped _. The Summer Sun Celebration! I was supposed to stay up for the sunrise!  
_  
"Oh dear. What time is it," Fluttershy fretted. "Did I miss the whole thing? Oh no, the Chirpingtons must be so upset! All that practice and they didn't get to perform... Birdies! Where are you? I'm so sorry!"

Her animals exchanged confused glances. Was she talking about her old bird choir? They'd broken up months ago when half its members moved away. What -

A loud, irate knocking sound from upstairs cut through the air. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden noise. "Just a moment," she muttered to her animal friends. _What could that be?_

She went upstairs and opened her bedroom door. One heartbeat later, a very confused pegasus found herself face-to-face with a really, really pissed off bunny. Angel pointed at the clock on the bedroom's wall (it was past noon) and angrily threw an empty food bowl at her. "Angel bunny! Who left you in here?" She scooped her pet up into a warm hug and carried him into her kitchen for a late breakfast. Not one second after setting down Angel's meal, a queer-yet-polite knock sounded at the front door: _knock-knock knock-knock-knock-scritch wobble-knock!_

Fluttershy felt she might cry from the stress of all these peculiar things, but (afraid of being rude) she went to answer the door. Almost immediately, she was overcome with fear. A bizarre creature grinned down at her from her doorway. "Fluttershy, my dear! Ready," Discord said charismatically, "for our Tuesday tea?"

"Ah – I, um, ah – I… Eep." The ability to speak had evacuated her mouth. She could only squeak.

Concern colored Discord's misshapen face. "What's the matter," he asked, swiping the air in front of the pegasus' face, "cat got your tongue?" He produced a white kitten from his paw with a flourish.

Fluttershy, for her part, hyperventilated while trying to hide behind her hair.

"I know," the chaos spirit said with a snap of his fingers, "we're playing charades. Great idea, Flutter dear! Here, guess what I am." With that, Discord popped his head off of his shoulders and spun it around. Fluttershy bolted away from him and hid behind her couch.

 _Was that the spirit of chaos? No,_ she thought, _no, he's supposed to be trapped in stone!_ Trying to calm herself, the pony squeezed her eyes shut and started counting in her head. _One…_ Huff… _Two…_ "If you're more in the mood for hide-and-seek, that's fine too," a voice spoke from right in front of her. She opened her eyes, pupils dilated with fear. A miniature Discord was right in front of her. Fluttershy screamed and ran away again. Wherever she stopped, Discord was right there. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to think. Eventually, the pale yellow pegasus broke down and cried. Discord, supremely confused, tried to comfort her with an awkward hug. But when he came close, she flinched away.

"I'll bet this has something to do with that magical disturbance from last night," Discord growled, looking away from his friend. Bothered that Fluttershy didn't recognize him and even more bothered by the fact that it bothered him, Discord retreated to his dimension.

* * *

"Rarity! Rarity, where are you? You said you would bring us the costumes," Sweetie Belle complained, pushing open the door to her sister's room.

"Still in bed," the filly said, commenting on her sister's condition, "Seriously? Get up, lazybones."

With a few pushes, Rarity was awake and taking off her sleep mask. "Sweetie Belle, darling," the mare said groggily, "I thought I told you never to - Oh!"

"Rarity, I can't believe you slept in to _day_ -"

"Darling, look! Your cutie mark!"

 _What? What about my cutie mark,_ the filly thought, twisting to look at her flank. It looked the same as ever.

"When did you get that," Rarity prodded.

Realization dawned on Sweetie Belle. Her sister hadn't brought the costume because she had lost her mind. She thought back to something Apple Bloom had mentioned, about Applejack not waking up early like she always did. "What's happened to you," the young pony muttered, looking at her sister with wide, concerned eyes.

"I... don't know? Sweetie, I'm sorry, I -" midsentence, the mare had a realization of her own. "The Summer Sun Celebration! I've slept through it!" Rarity flung off her bedcovers and dashed out of the room, with her little sister's perplexed cry on her heels:

"What in the hay is going on!"

* * *

A/N: I didn't double-check this chapter (wanted to get it out sooner) so tell me if you see anything wrong or if it seemed boring in some parts, 'kay? :D

Ani, hi again! Two questions for ya: What qualities do you like most in your friends **or** what kind of friend would you like to have? (The person who suggested Solar Moon was crazy unspecific, so I'm still filling in his character traits. Since this character is connected with yours, I thought you'd want some input.) And... I forgot the other question. Well. _Season 6 is this month oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!_ And was that a Gravity Falls reference? I really need to catch up on that show, eh? Hope you liked this chapter! My world is still ending so the next one might not be for a while!

And to everyone reading, hugs from this side of the screen~

-Margo


	7. Chapter 7

Her eyes drifted open. Then they glanced toward Twilight's throne. Then they snapped awake. _She's gone,_ Starlight thought, weighed down by a faint feeling of dread and bleariness. As she stood up, cramped and stiff from sleeping on the throne room's floor, the unicorn wondered where her mentor had wandered off to. Sighing, Starlight cracked her neck. Her gaze wandered over to a gently snoring Ani, who had agreed to take turns watching Twilight with her, just in case the Princess woke up and/or puked. "It'll be just like old times," the brown stallion had exclaimed.

"You used to take turns watching Princesses sleep?" Starlight Glimmer had asked.

"No, silly! I used to sleep on cold floors, like these ones. Well, not like these - mine had a lot more splinters -"

"Whoa, wait," the mare had interjected, blinking in surprise, "why were you sleeping on floors?"

Ani huffed out his chest and said "Because I lived in the most terrible rump-wart known to pony-kind: an orphanage. A crowded one, too. Oh, look at your face, Starlight! I'm just full of surprises, now, aren't I? I can tell you all about it later, but you planned on sleeping, right-" his friend had nodded "- all righty-tighty-flighty, then, let's sleep!"

So she'd gone to sleep, determined to tackle the upcoming problems with fresh eyes. Fresh eyes, however, did not prepare her for the scene she was greeted with outside. In the soft morning sunlight, a cluster of confused, perturbed ponies were crowded around a confused, perturbed Princess of Friendship. When Starlight burst onto the castle's doorstep, the townsponies barely took a moment to look at her before continuing to jabber at Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn backed away from the onslaught of ponies, only to have them inch forward. Then, bizarrely, one of her wings sprung out horizontally and whacked the pony next to her. Starlight Glimmer lunged forwards and placed herself between the Princess and the group. Then she fried under their gazes for a few seconds because she hadn't planned on what to say next. The complaining had died down; everypony was looking at her expectantly. Her mouth started working again before her brain did:

"Hello, everypony. If we could all please give each other a few measures of personal space -" the mob backed away from Twilight "- Excellent! Thank you. Now, who wants to kindly explain why you're all harassing the Princess of Friendship?"

The Princess' purple ear had flicked uneasily at the mention of her title. _Why - no, not now. You're doing great, Starlight. Keep going._ Once the unicorn had realized what she was saying, it was easy to figure out the rest of what she wanted to do. So the reformed villain patiently, pleasantly stared down the congregation until one of them - Harpa? No, no, um... Lyra - spoke up: "We're here because we had appointments. Twilight was going to give us friendship advice. Well, I had an appointment, anyway-"

"So did I!" a yellow unicorn declared from the crowd. Two other ponies raised their hooves.

"- and Bon-Bon is just here to support me. I mean," Lyra said as she scanned the ponies around her, "it looks like a lot of friends are here, too."

Twilight Sparkle shifted away from her pupil, who let her go. Starlight hadn't realized she'd been keeping a protective hoof on the purple mare. Then the lavender-eyed unicorn cleared her throat and addressed the townsfolk: "Well then! It looks like you all learned a valuable lesson about supporting your friends. Two ponies are more powerful than one and that power can be used to stress and scare your Princess, so maybe don't freaking do that, ok?" A quick look at the crowd told her that nopony was happy with this. "Ok! Great lesson," Starlight Glimmer proclaimed, leading the alicorn back into the castle.

"I don't think that's going to help me," Lyra said, her brow quirked with skepticism.

"What are you talking about? That," Starlight replied, backing through the castle's doors, "was an excellent lesson. You were lucky to get it. It'll have to do for now. Spread the word; that's the only friendship lesson anypony is getting until... Until sometime! Goodbye!"

The towering golden door was magically held open for the two mares. Starlight Glimmer saw Solar Moon standing nearby. _How long has he been there_ , she thought, _just standing in the doorway..?_ "Thanks," she told him.

"Make no mention of it," he replied, closing the doors. The unicorn mare's eyes rested on the saddlebags at his side.

"Leaving so soon?" Starlight made no attempt to hide the irritation in her voice. Last night, as Solar Moon and Ani helped her clean the soup off of Twilight's passed-out head, the gold stallion had revealed that he'd left some spells in the library.

"A spell? Was it," she'd asked, "by any chance, a spell that swaps a pony's past and present self?"

"That was one of them, yes," he affirmed. Starlight's features had drooped with the most exasperated look in Equestria. She didn't talk much for the rest of the night.

So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when she, seeing him ready to leave, said: "I guess you're the kind of stallion who leaves a mess for others to clean up?"

A pained look danced across Solar Moon's face. "No, of course not," he said. "I simply had not realized that there was a mess to begin with. I apologize. It should have been obvious. You cast Quasar's spell, did you not?"

"On accident," Starlight Glimmer said, nodding. _Seriously? He's only just realizing this?_ _  
_  
"And that is why the Princess was acting so strangely," the stallion murmured. He met the mare's steely gaze. "I - I will assist you in any way that I can," Solar Moon said solemnly. "That is, if you will accept my help."

The spellcaster mulled over her options. _It would be a pain to have more ponies involved with this. And I can't shake this feeling..._ In a softer tone, the unicorn mare said: "Honestly, I'll need all the help I can get. And that spell. It'll take much longer to undo it if I don't know where to start."

Then she turned to Twilight Sparkle, intending to ask if she was ok. _Oh._ Spike had run up to the alicorn while Starlight wasn't looking. They were hugging. Twilight looked extremely unsettled, almost scared. Spike didn't seem to know what was wrong with her, but he hugged anyway. Noticing the ex-villain's look, Twilight chose to speak up: "You cast a spell on me?"

Starlight Glimmer sighed. She had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

"La-la-la!"

Pinkie Pie's singsong voice rang out happily as she trotted out of Sugarcube Corner. _What a great day it is today! A day of sunshine! The smell of dew! It's a great day and not a weird one._ She thought that a baby's cry had woken her up, which would've been weird because she didn't live near babies. But that couldn't have happened! So it was a great day, a brand new day full of smiles. She had a lot to do today - orders to fill, a delivery here and there, and maybe even a party, if there was still time! She had all her tasks perfectly memorized. First, though, the party pony needed taffeta. Old Geri ordered cupcakes, and he always liked to have the box lined with taffeta. _I never asked him why he likes it that way, did I? Maybe,_ she thought, _he pretends it's a little ocean with sea ponies at the bottom. Why are sea ponies called hippocampi? Does that mean that a hippocampus is the word for one sea pony, which also part of my brain? Oh my goodness! I have a sea pony in my brain..._ Pinkie's train of thought carried her and her clear blue gaze about town, only pausing to bring up a pony's mood here and there.

A few hours later, the cupcakes were done and Pinkie Pie was off to deliver them. She hummed a lighthearted tune and sang, "Off to the Old Pony's Home to drop off lots of cupcakes!" Soon, she came to her destination and rapped on the door. "Hel-loooo," she called, "Geri! I've got your cupcakes!"

Chelsea Porcelain, another one of the Home's residents, answered the door. "Pinkie Pie, child," the mare creaked, "we weren't expecting you."

"Oh?" Pinkie replied in puzzlement. "But Geri always orders cupcakes for the entire Home! Wha- what..."

Porcelain cut her off with a distinctly sharper tone: "This is some kind of prank, then? Miss Pie, I thought you had boundaries. Of all ponies, I thought _you_ knew when to draw the line. I'm - I'm quite - Oh! Good day, Miss Pie." With that, the old mare slammed the door.

Pinkie stared at the door with wide blue eyes, wondering what she'd done wrong. A muffled voice from the other side of the door could be heard: "Chelsea! Chelsea, was that Pinkamena? Oh..? Oh dear."

Mr. Waddle opened the door a crack and poked his spotted, wrinkly head out. "Pinkamena, dear," he said. His eyes were dim with sadness. "I know you're scatterbrained sometimes, child, but... Geri is dead. And so you can understand why... Why Chelsea would react..."

"Oh," Pinkie said, her voice cracking a little. "W-when did this..?"

"Child," the elder stallion replied, aghast. "It was just last month. How could you forget?"

* * *

"You're absolutely, posi-toot-ly sure this isn't dangerous?"

The sounds of the Everfree forest followed the unicorn trio as they made their way amongst the dank, dark tree trunks. An earthy smell emanated from the compost underhoof. "For the _sixth_ time, Ani," Starlight Glimmer groaned, "I'm sure! Twilight and her friends go in here all the time. But you keep asking and that keeps making me less sure!" _For Celestia's sake,_ she thought, _it's only been two minutes, if that!  
_  
"It shouldn't make you less sure if you're sure, for sure," Ani stage-whispered.

"As juvenile as he is, Ani has a point," Solar Moon quipped, deadpan.

"Not you too," Starlight said, half-laughing and half moaning into the cool air.

Starlight Glimmer had decided to scour the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters first, since its books were more varied and ancient. If push came to shove, the spellcaster would probably ask for permission to enter the Canterlot Archives. But it hadn't quite come to that yet, so she intended to work with what she had. At the moment, what she had was a couple of unicorns and a spell gone wrong. _I've been worse off_ , the mare thought wryly. Suddenly, she remembered what Ani had said about living in an orphanage. "Hey, Ani," Starlight said to the stallion behind her, "what were you going to tell me earlier, about the orphanage? It's a long walk. A story might make it shorter."

"Oh, yeah," Ani said, "I was abandoned as a filly. I grew up in an orphanage."

There was a beat of silence. Starlight waited expectantly. A cricket started chirping nearby. A leathery bat swooped down and ate it.

"There were bullies, too," the brown stallion offered.

"Oh... Kay? Um," Starlight Glimmer said questioningly, stepping over a puddle. "That's it?"

"Yup!"

"I suppose this shall be a long walk, after all," Solar Moon sighed.

"I could tell you the story of how I got my Cutie Mark," Ani piped.

"Yes! Anything to distract from the weird smells we keep passing," the mare declared.

"How's that sound, Mister Moony," the brown unicorn asked, "wanna hear it?"

"Please, I am quite intrigued by this," the golden stallion replied. With that, Ani started speaking over the sound of crunching leaves and distant critters:

"All right! It all started because of those bullies that I mentioned. They were after me every day because I 'didn't have a Cutie Mark,' but you know how it is. They were bigger, I was little; they were older, I was a squirt. And they were jerks. Can't forget that part. They probably would've bullied me whether or not I had my mark. So," Ani said as he leapt over a mushroom, "I ran from them day after day until I found out about teleporting from a book. That would be the thing to stump them! I practiced teleporting when I could, but I couldn't seem to get it right. I started to feel all funny - dizzy, almost - when I got close. That wasn't good, but it didn't stop me from trying. Eventually, the day came. I was running from the bullies again and they cornered me. I panicked. I teleported! Sort of. The closest thing to it would be an advanced time travel spell, but you know what I'm talking about, right? My portals, my reality-jumping; my talent! That's when I discovered it."

"That's amazing," Starlight said under her breath.

"Right?" Ani replied, beaming at her. "Anyways, that first jump was really, um, violent. More like ripping through space time than slipping through. First I was in space, looking down at the world, then I was in something... There aren't any words for it yet. Don't worry! I'm careful not to cause any gravitational anomalies anymore. I ended up seeing a reality with humans in it! And Dan, Starlight; I think you'd like Dan. The pets in that world are a lot more interesting than Equestria's. Anyhow, I wrote down what I saw and felt when jumping realities and I was able to figure out a lot about how the multiverse works. And that's the story of how I got _this_ baby!" At that last sentence, he tapped his flank. His Cutie Mark, five small galaxies encircling a bigger one, certainly seemed to support what he'd said.

The trio stopped in front of a chasm-spanning rope bridge. Out of curiosity, Solar Moon asked: "How long ago did this happen, Ani?"

"'Bout nine or ten years ago, I guess," the brown stallion answered. "And, uh, Solar Moon? My full name is Animated Universe. No offense, but it sounds weird when you use my nickname."

"Right, then," Moony replied with an awkward cough. "I only mention this because it would seem to coincide with the time I earned _my_ Cutie Mark. I had calculated the path of a comet, you see, and I detected a gravitational anomaly shortly before everypony was due to see my discovery. If I hadn't accounted for it, my calculations would've been off and... Well, I might not have this on my flank."

"Hah," Starlight Glimmer said, sitting down on the gravel-laden grass. "I actually have some experience with comets ten years ago, too. I got my Cutie Mark when I destroyed a comet by shooting it with raw magic as it flew past. It folded itself down a dimension and... Ah, Solar? What's that look for?"

The stallion in question looked very unsettled, from his pinprick pupils to his scrunched up mouth. "Y-you," he sputtered, then managed: "Is that why I was never able to locate it again with a telescope?"

The mare's eyes widened. "Would it have appeared around May 4th..?"

Solar Moon face-hoofed. "Can you at least tell me why," he said dejectedly, "you were compelled to knock it into being two-dimensional?"

"Oh, um," Starlight said with a slight blush, "I was a blank flank for a long time, so these other fillies would tease me nonstop about it. One of them was a stargazer-talent and they made a big deal out of finding shooting stars for their friends to wish on. Well, one night, I saw that comet - that 'shooting star' - at the same time as they were wishing on it. So I thought it'd be funny to, you know, crush it out of this dimension."

"Cool," Ani whispered. Starlight Glimmer grinned in response. "I will never forget their faces," she laughed.

"Let's just get on with this," Solar Moon said irritably, striding across the bridge.

* * *

A/N: All constructive feedback is highly appreciated! This was, again, released in a rush.

Animateduniverse, I hope I did a good job of retelling your character's backstory. This was the best way I could think of to make it fit in with the rest of the narrative.

Thanks for reading and bye for now ^_^


	8. 75: Picture and Note

This isn't really a chapter (sorry) - It's a note for Animateduniverse because I don't know if he saw my last note in the reviews. Ani, I'm sorry to hear that you're going through tough times. And there's no need to apologize for 'wasting time.' Someone's died; I'm here for you, if that can mean anything online. I'm here if you need to talk to someone, at least. I do read all your reviews, y'know! (btw, thanks for mentioning the whole 'cupcakes' thing; it really helps.)

So, um, I did see the new mlp episodes and (so far) I liked 'The Gift of the Maud Pie' best. And - when looking through your reviews to make Chapter 7 - I saw that you like dywtba universe. That guy! Is the coolest! What'd you think of Batman v Superman, by the way? And... the funeral was today... I hope you're doing ok-ish over there.

I'll cap this off with a link to a picture I put together, a picture of Starlight and Animateduniverse (because I felt bad posting without giving something). Best I could do: margo-mcknew dot deviantart dot com /art/Something-to-tell-you-603465902 (replace "dot"s with .'s)

I wish you well, I wish you strength and good health~


	9. Chapter 9, technically 8

The three unicorns had differing degrees of tolerance for books. Starlight's method of reading had always been slow and methodical; books weren't an extension of her mind like they had been for her old friend Sunburst. Ani had always been the kind of pony to live adventures instead of just reading about them. After fifteen minutes of trying to stay still and read, the brown stallion took to pacing with the book in front of his face.

 _Flip-flip-flip -_ the pages fluttered in the abandoned castle's stale air.

 _Clip-clop clip-clop_ \- Ani's hooves beat out a steady rhythm on the ancient stone floor. He had to keep his body moving, his blood pumping. Staying still felt... Weird.

Off in the corner, Solar Moon looked around for something to plug his ears with. A few glances up at the other two had told him that he was probably the fastest reader in the group. This was hardly surprising; reading filled many of the gold-flanked stallion's waking hours. He had a gut feeling that he'd get through much more material than his companions. _Look for notes stuck between the pages,_ Starlight Glimmer had told them, _and scribbled in the margins._ Bring her any spells related to time, mind, and body. With that command in their thoughts, the unicorns settled into their search.

Minutes spent among the books steadily waxed into hours. The trickle of still, quiet hours plodded closer and closer to night. A matter of minutes into the third hour, a loud crunch crackled through the air. Starlight's ears flicked up as she cast a glance in Ani's direction. The stallion was holding a juicy red apple to his mouth. After swallowing the bite he'd taken, Ani said "I popped over to Ponyville to grab a quick snack."

There was a moment's pause. The two ponies maintained eye contact, one expectant and one awkward. Dust particles drifted down on the sunbeams streaming through the broken roof.

"Did," he continued, "you... Want anything?"

"I think I'm fine for a while longer," Starlight deferred.

"Well, _I_ could certainly use some lunch," Solar Moon piped up from his corner. "And a stretch is good for the mind. Do you mind if I come with you, Universe?"

The brown unicorn's eyelids fluttered, blinking in bewilderment. "Universe," he repeated, "You just called me Universe." His tone had taken on a strange amusement.

Solar Moon huffed. "You did not want me to call you _Ani_ , so -"

"No, no, it's fine!" Ani reassured his companion, having burst into an all-out laugh. "It's just that nobody calls me that. C'mon, Moony, let's get going. Can you teleport that far or do you wanna try jumping with me?"

The green-haired unicorn's mumbled response revealed that, no, he could not teleport that far. Starlight Glimmer, sensing that he felt a little embarrassed at having to answer this, told him there was nothing to be ashamed of. _Thinking of others' feelings!_ That, she remembered proudly, is straight from Friendship Flashcard #57. _Didn't even have to think about that one._ But then Solar Moon's cheeks flushed red and the mare abruptly realized that she'd made things worse by bringing up his feelings at all. In the end, she hastily equipped the stallion with the spell that would let him travel with Animated Universe and saw them off. As the two disappeared through the portal, Starlight gave their backs a stiff little wave goodbye.

With a feeling like sighing and cringing at the same time, the lavender-eyed unicorn turned back to her books. Slowly but surely, the sunlight receded behind the library's crumbling stone walls. It was a tomb of information.

As they interacted one-on-one, Ani and Solar quickly found out that they could be good friends. Solar liked how Ani's hyperactivity made for a constantly stimulating conversation. Ani liked that Solar could come up with an answer for just about anything. Plus, he was pretty patient. That was important.

"So how'd you like that," the brown unicorn asked as they stepped out of his portal. A startled flock of birds announced their sudden arrival in Ponyville's marketplace.

Shaking off his dizziness, Solar Moon replied, "I - urp," his knees shook, nearly causing him to keel over. "I would like to study this talent of yours in detail, Universe," he said, "if you do not mind, of course. It is quite fascinating, although-" the scholar tripped, sending his face straight into the dirt. "- I have experienced more pleasant ways to travel," he grumbled from the ground.

Ani helped him up. "Travel, travel," he mused, "I wonder what you'd think of the humans' trains or -"

The scholar, dusting himself off, cast a strange look at his companion when he mentioned humans.

"- their automobiles, which are mostly nice, but they smoke and would put ponies here out of business, I think -"

The duo approached a restaurant. When a break in Ani's never-ending gush of words appeared, the green-eyed stallion asked "You have been to a good many places, have you not?"

Animated Universe looked almost shocked that somepony had stopped him from talking. It was strange; he'd been to countless markets on countless worlds, but he usually felt that his chatter went unheard. People, ponies, everyone... They'd tune it out. Starlight and Solar would take him an unimaginable amount of getting used to. "Y-yes," the reality jumper eventually responded. By this time, Solar Moon had already placed his order. "I can tell you all about 'em -"

"Tell me about your favorite ones, please," the gold-flanked stallion urged gently. Who was he to pass up an opportunity to learn of other worlds?

Beaming, Ani unleashed a torrent of words that continued as they finished their daisy sandwiches, picked up some more apple snacks, and waited in Sugarcube Corner for a small cake that Starlight would probably appreciate. They returned back to the library with a mere hour or two to spare before sundown. To their chagrin, Starlight Glimmer still hadn't eaten anything. She enjoyed some of the food they'd brought among the books and, between bites, told them about how a squirrel dove into the library to escape an eagle. But soon, the library went quiet again as the trio rooted through the multitude of books. The strain on the ponies' eyes gave way to persistent headaches. That was the first day in the library of the two sisters.

* * *

Waking up in her old bed was a kick in the heart. Twilight Sparkle hated her sleeping brain for putting her through this again. The dreams that took place in the old Ponyville library, those dreams were always the hardest to wake up from. The alicorn resolved not to wake up. The moon's gentle glow suffused the room, alighting on her eyelids like a butterfly. The smell of books, the pillow against her cheek, the gentle rocking of the tree; it was all so perfect. So... Real.

Too real. Twilight jolted upright, concern nudging her features into a frown. Her breath hitched in her chest as she tried to get her bearings. The purple pony's head was spinning, so she reached her wings out to steady herself. Her wings did not respond. _What?_ The purple unicorn squeaked and fell back down onto her sheets. _Where are my..? No, no, no, no -_

She stood up on her bed. She was a few inches shorter than usual. The magic flowing through her was less ancient and powerful. A million little things were wrong, but Twilight couldn't possibly process them all. Then, right on cue, Spike threw open her bedroom door. "Hey Twilight," the baby dragon exclaimed cheerfully, "Pinkie Pie's starting Pin the Tail on the Pony! Wanna play?"

The unicorn's throat had just about closed up with panic. "Spike, what's going on," she asked, blinking dazedly. Even as the words left her mouth, the answer to her question formed in her mind. _Time travel... Starlight's spell! Oh no, no -_

"What d'you mean, Twi -" Spike was saying, obviously concerned.

Then, as if she wasn't overwhelmed enough already, a shrill scream - accompanied by a cacophany of startled yelps - echoed from beyond the open door. Pushing her own concerns aside, Twilight got out of bed, intending to investigate and help. Every step her hooves made on the familiar wooden floor caused her heart to twinge with nostalgia. It had been so long...

By the time she pushed past Spike, into the party's candlelit brightness, the Element-bearer was blinking back tears. "Focus, Twilight," she chided herself softly. Her voice was lost in the cries and yells of the panicking crowd.

"Is there a doctor here?" somepony yelled.

"I know CPR -" another voice called out.

"Five of them? Five ponies passed out all at once? Are you sure there aren't -"

Instincively, the ex-alicorn tried to take flight so she could get a better idea of what was going on. Of course, she stayed glued to the ground. She felt a phantom tingle where her wings used to be. _Keep moving,_ Twilight thought. She pushed through the anxious crush of ponies. The library wasn't supposed to be this full; everypony's collective body heat was making the room stuffy.

Pinkie Pie was the first one she found, passed out over the snack table. A couple of mares stood over her - Twinkleshine and a purple pegasus - obviously unsure of what to do. Motioning for the two to move out of the way, Twilight Sparkle pulled her friend's face out of the cupcakes and swept the sweetness off with her magic.

The layout of the table, her lack of wings, the party... It was her first day in Ponyville all over again, literally. The Summer Sun Celebration was supposed to start in a few hours. Scanning the room for the rest of her friends, Twilight's stomach did a little flip. Did this mean they'd have to face Luna - no, Nightmare Moon - all over again? She had faith in her friends, but she didn't know if they could perfectly replicate everything they'd done before. What if they accidentally changed the past?

 _What if..._ a worried little voice in Twilight's head nagged.

"No, we'll be fine," the unicorn murmured. "We'll get ourselves out of this mess together."

She brushed strands of Pinkie's cupcake-crumbed hair out of the pink pony's face. "Together," Twilight repeated, thinking back to the last time she'd time-traveled. "We'll be all right."

* * *

The second day in the library still had some of the hope and determination of the first. Starlight had stayed the night in the crumbling structure, steady in her faith that enough dedication would yield an answer. Ani stayed the night with her, daunted by the thought of staying alone in a less-than-familiar town when he could just as easily stay with a friend. Solar Moon was having none of this - there are _wild creatures_ in these woods, you know, _wild_ and _deadly_ creatures - and asked permission to stay at his guest suite in Twilight's castle. Starlight Glimmer, resisting the annoying little urge to magically make him stay and search, told him that Twi probably wouldn't mind. Those were some of the last words that left her lips before she lit a candle and searched books far into the night. Ani would later estimate that she slept two hours or less.

She rose early in the morning, waking as the sun cast its warm tendrils of light through the castle's cracks, and immediately opened up the books.

"You're awake!" Animated Universe had said, eager to have someone to talk to again. He took in the scene before him: Starlight, covered in a thin casing of dirt from the previous night's wind, had her newly-woken face poked into a book. Her blanket was hanging off of her and was mostly on the ground. "You... You haven't eaten breakfast yet or anything, have you," he stated, somewhat exasperated.

"I'll eat in a little bit," Starlight said in an attempt at defending herself. "I feel like I can get through a lot of material _right now_ , though."

"Uh-hmm," Ani responded, cocking an eyebrow at her. Later, he would snatch her book away from her and replace it with a meal. "No complaints!" he squeaked, jerking backwards as his friend tried to retreive the book. "You're not going to starve on my watch, Starlight Glimmer! You're gonna sit here -" he portaled himself out of Starlight's reach "- and eat this sandwich! -" she teleported right up to him, obviously annoyed "- and have this apple and -" he leapt away "- we're going to have a nice conversation! About cotton candy or humans or quantum physics -"

"Ani!" Starlight called out, trying to growl menacingly but instead uttering a childish whine.

"And you're _not_ going to starve!" the brown-eyed unicorn exclaimed giddily. Then, in a strangely more serious tone, "Starvation is a horrible way to die."

"Wha - Ani!" the mare said again. "Please tell me you didn't lose my place," she sighed, gesturing at the book.

"No, of course not," he replied. They'd materialized themselves all around the room by this point; he was standing atop a bookshelf.

"Ok," Starlight Glimmer breathed, touching her hoof to her chest to calm herself. "Thanks for bringing food," she said after a pause.

That was the first time Ani would make absolutely sure mealtime was break-and-chat time. It would not be the last. Solar Moon arrived during breakfast. From there, the second day went much as the first had.

On the third day, _What if I can't find a solution here_ entered Starlight's head. She quickly pushed it aside. _There are so many books in this ancient library_ , she told herself, _I can't dismiss all hope just yet._ So she and her friends plowed tirelessly through pages and pages of spells, becoming stiff and having their limbs fall asleep from lack of movement. Ani took breaks to get Solar to and from the castle, and to get food. As for Starlight... The outside world hardly existed to her.

The fourth day saw Ani's infinite energy waning. He felt a little sleepy, but was mostly able to shake it off. He didn't mention it to Starlight, though, and another day passed in the tomb of learning. She was too focused to notice his slightly bleary eyes and occasional yawn. He was inspired by her drive to keep searching for a solution and wanted to be useful to his new friend. So he said nothing about his sleepiness. He should've said something.

A full week had gone by when the mistake happened. Ani, as usual, had opened up a portal after a long day to drop Solar Moon off at the castle. The fatigue that had started a few days ago was really getting to him by that point. He stepped through his portal. The green-eyed stallion followed him. What happened next had to be recounted to Ani by a very cold, very wet Solar Moon.

* * *

A/N: Hi again Animateduniverse - I am so sorry for going M.I.A on you like that. I've read every review you've posted. I've actually just started school and celebrated a few birthdays and by god I would've released this chapter sooner if it had been finished..! I wrote just as much as I usually do in a month, but for a different story, hence this part's lateness. Didn't even mean to write for a different story; just got inspired to. Sorry again.

Fluttershy's brother was supremely annoying. It was weird to have an episode about him, but that episode wasn't the _worst..._

Thank you for sticking around and sharing what you think about episodes/movies (those are fun to read). I hope you have a happy week ^_^


	10. Chapter 10

The boom of a nearby explosion shook Ani and Solar's very bones. Solar Moon could hardly cope with it; Ani didn't notice it. The black-maned reality jumper had fainted as soon as he stepped out of his portal, leaving his scholar companion to face the landscape of ice and biting winds alone. It was as though Fate had decided to play dice with their lives by bringing them here; the two had walked right onto the frozen lake of a forsaken dimension. Squinting in the harsh frigidity of his new environment, Solar Moon swung his head desperately, searching for cover from the snowstorm. A flare of light and another earth-shaking boom shot through the atmosphere, muffled by the onslaught of wind and snow. The scholar lifted Ani onto his back to carry him. He'd barely gone two steps when a scarlet-eyed changeling landed in front of him, knocked out of the sky by a magical blast. The force of her impact cracked the ice, but she still landed on all four hooves. The changeling held a knife in her clenched teeth and, reacting with a precise sort of flinch, turned her head just in time to block the deadly slash from the pony descending on her. The attacker had swung a knife attached to her armor, just in front of her horn...

Solar Moon's stomach turned as he recognized the armored alicorn. Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight was trying to kill a changeling. Why would the Princess of Friendship, of all things -

Pain and ice clashed together as the stallion was knocked to the ice by a shockwave. There were no thoughts. There were no actions. There was only biting pain. In front of him, now a few feet away, the changeling parried a rain of blows from Twilight - a slash from the alicorn's helmet-blade, stab after stab from the blades affixed to her armored forelegs - avoiding a hundred deaths with her fast-twitch reflexes. The Princess looked to have the upper hand, until she lunged backwards, narrowly avoiding a sudden bite from the changeling's fangs. With the purple pony off-balance, the changeling went on the attack. Twilight responded to this by shattering the ice at her enemy's feet with a shot from her horn. The changeling fluttered her insectoid wings for balance. Before her enemy could have a chance to recover, Twilight moved to strike. With a flash of panic in her eye, the changeling chose that moment to transform. Solar Moon didn't recognize the mare, although she had similar hair to Twilight. Whoever the scarlet-eyed changeling had turned into, it certainly had an effect on the Princess: Twilight Sparkle stopped dead in her tracks, looking taken aback.

With a little grin, the changeling shifted the position of her head... _She's going to throw the knife_ , the gold-flanked stallion realized as he struggled to find where Ani had been knocked to on the frozen lake. Magic tingled to life in his horn, though he didn't know what for - would he try to seize the knife in midair? make the Princess duck? - but in that same instant, a portal opened up beneath Twilight's assailant. Solar Moon looked around excitedly - was Ani awake? _We're saved! Where is he? Where's -_

But when his searching gaze finally fell upon Ani, it was not the Ani he knew. A unicorn stallion slid to a stop on the ice next to Twilight, kicking up a little spray of wetness. He, too, was clad in armor. Solar Moon groaned as the truth finally hit him.

The scholar was no stranger to the multiverse theory. It was often discussed by his companions, from the quantum visionaries to the speculative authors. The theory states that everything, every possibility that _can_ happen _does_ happen, but in a universe of its own. _We've ended up in an alternate universe. Of course. Gosh, this is terrible_ , Solar Moon thought as he backed away from the fray. _At least that tells me something about how his portals work._

Suddenly, the stallion's back hoof dipped down into water. Startled, Solar jerked his leg back up onto the ice and looked behind him. Apparently, part of the lake's ice had been cracked clean off, exposing the frigid waters beneath. The howling winds and snow died down for a moment, allowing the green-eyed unicorn a better look at his surroundings. The fighting had moved away from him as he moved away from it, putting a good amount of distance between them. That was good. Unfortunately, he could now see where Ani had ended up. A short way past the clashing ponies, on the liquid part of the lake, a dark figure floated on a piece of ice. Solar Moon could just barely make out the horn poking out of what appeared to be a pony's head. A flicker of anguish sprang to life in the scholar's heart. Then the wall of snow hit again, casting the world into an oppressive whiteness. The unicorn stallion knew where he needed to go; now he just needed to keep his footing on the ice long enough to get there.

 _Step. Breathe. Keep low. Don't get blown into the water._

He could feel himself slipping, steadily being pushed towards the icy slush.

 _Step. Step. Fight for air. Don't just inhale snow. Nose is freezing. Ignore it. Step. Stop sliding._

Briefly, Solar Moon wondered if he was nearing the changeling and the Princess again. There were flashes of blue and purple light ahead and to his right. But he didn't think he was in any dange-

A beam of pure heat momentarily turned the snow above his head into steam. His knees trembled, threatening to give out from fright. Shaking, he squinted through the snow, getting a quick sight of the beam's source. It hardly should've surprised him at this point, but the alternate universe's Starlight Glimmer could be seen levitating herself in a complex pattern to avoid lasers from Twilight, firing shots of her own all the while. Trepidation gripped Solar Moon as he noticed that they were tearing up the ice, cleaving it into floating shards. The alternate Ani appeared to be unfazed by this, simply disappearing into a portal every time the ice under his hooves became unsteady. Then he'd reappear far above the ponies' heads, throwing sharp objects into the fight. Starlight, nicked by of the projectiles, dropped out of the air. The changeling stepped forwards to protect the fallen mare. She didn't have to hold her attackers off for long; a spell pulsed outwards from Starlight's horn, causing everything within a sixty-foot radius of the fighters to float helplessly up into the air. Then snowfall thickened again, prickling the skin beneath his coat and cutting off his view of the fight. Pushing forwards, Solar Moon soon came to the edge of the ice once more. His field of vision was extremely limited, but it was enough to keep him out of the water. He made his way along the edge, going five feet… Ten feet… Were the explosions getting louder?

The hair on the back of Solar's neck stood up as he involuntarily ducked. The Princess of Friendship fell from the sky like a swatted insect, cracking the ice and sliding into the water. The scholar steadied himself as best he could, scrambling to stay standing and not swimming. The alicorn was already dragging herself out of the devilishly cold water. Her eyes darted around neurotically, expecting to see her enemies bearing down on her, but they found Solar Moon instead. She was obviously shocked to notice him there for the first time, and yet… "You have to get out of here," Twilight Sparkle yelled, somehow managing to speak clearly through the storm. Ever the practical one, Twilight; there was no time to ask how he'd gotten there. "This is no place for civilians!"

"I can't, Princess," Solar Moon shouted back, "I need to find my friend! He's not safe, he's passed out -"

The mare's eyes were still glued to the place where the sounds of clashing and conflict were coming from. She'd shaken some of the water off and was preparing to take flight. Solar spoke quickly:

"He's across from here, in that direction" he pointed "Princess Twilight, please -"

"Do you know how to break your fall with magic?" The question came tersely, cutting him off.

"I- I… No, I don't, I -"

"Fine then," the Princess muttered, exhaling through her nose. "Brace yourself."

In a single, fluid motion, the alicorn launched herself into the air, grabbing the scholar on the way. He could only open his mouth in a silent scream as he was lifted up and above the lake. Suddenly, he was soaring through the middle of the fight. Alternate Starlight floated menacingly above, haloed by a brief shine of light from the sun. The changeling hovered nearby, deflecting projectiles dropping out of the constantly appearing and disappearing portals. The alternate Ani was nimbly moving behind ice shards and rubbish floating in the air, courtesy of Starlight's earlier spell. And Twilight… Solar Moon realized that he was now falling in an arc, freed from the Princess' grip. _What?!_ He looked back and saw her trading blows with Starlight Glimmer and a terrible feeling of panic swallowed his soul. He plummeted to his doom.

The Princess of Friendship, however, had not abandoned him. She swooped downwards, catching the unicorn before he could shatter every bone in his body on the unforgiving ice. The gold-flanked stallion blinked away his gut-wrenching certainty of death that had overtaken him earlier and mustered a grateful nod, but she was already gone. So Solar Moon began looking for the reality-jumper again. His piece of ice was only a few paces away, bobbing against the shore..!

By now, frost was forming around the eyes and noses of both stallions. Solar dragged Ani onto more solid ice and nudged him with his hoof. Then a dreadfully morbid thought occurred to the blue-maned unicorn, prompting him to press an ear to Ani's chest and listen for a heartbeat. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the ongoing battle, and concentrated. _Come on, come on… Oh thank Celestia,_ Solar Moon thought. The joker was alive. _Now, to wake him up._ Instantly, the scholar was met with small, stinging doubts.

 _If a battle and an icy wasteland couldn't wake him up, what hope do I have of –_

 _We'll be stuck here forever, won't we –_

 _What an awful way to die._

Despite this, he proceeded to try waking him up by talking. Singing. Screaming. He gave Ani a push. He rolled his friend and his frosty mane across the frozen lake. Then, reluctantly, he soundly slapped the other stallion's face. Nothing. After fifteen minutes of trying, hopelessness sapped his heart. At some point, the ice underneath them cracked off from the rest of the lake. Solar tried to keep the both of them warm. A half an hour passed in the unrelenting cold.

One last time, Solar Moon cast a desperate gaze at his companion's passed-out face. Finally - blessedly! - the dark-maned portaler's eyes lolled open a crack.

"Universe, you're awake," the stallion screamed through the wintry gale, through his near-death panic and adrenaline. "Get us back to safety!"

The cold, the distant booms, and Solar's words - _Get us to safety_ \- thudded against Ani's dulled senses. Safe... Starlight was someplace safe, right? Ani opened the portal.

* * *

The eternal night grew still once the screams of hysteria died down. Townsponies had a penchant for squealing in any year. But Applejack was calm, drinking in how similar everything was to that fateful night so many years ago. Every spoken syllable and passing glance at the scenery was accompanied by a wave of déjà vu. Déjà vu... The farm pony wasn't much for French, but she knew that déjà vu meant "already seen". The feeling was appropriate; she _had_ seen everything here before. The welcoming party thrown by Pinkie, Nightmare Moon's dramatic, panic-inducing entrance; it was like walking in a memory. Applejack, always one to think ahead, wondered if her test of honesty would be the same. Would it really be a test if Twilight had no doubts about whether she'd be ok? Would it even happen at all? Between her stream of thoughts and the beat of her hoofsteps as they approached the Everfree forest, she nearly missed what Twilight said to everyone:

"Girls, I'm sure you've all been wondering about the tests of harmony. I know I have."

There were murmurs of assent from all five ponies.

"I don't really mind helping out the manticore again," Fluttershy intoned.

"And I have no problem fixing that lovely serpent's moustache again, darling," Rarity piped up. "But I do wonder if it shall be a _true_ test of generosity, since I know the Elements will make my tail grow back."

"Right? And now that I'm a Wonderbolt, the Shadowbolts are less than nothing to me," Rainbow Dash added in a tone that seemed to spit a challenge into cool night air.

"My thoughts exactly, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle said. "And that's okay. I don't think the tests are completely necessary this time around. Last time, they strengthened our bond and showcased your guys' traits to help activate the Element of Magic. But right now, we're already friends and we've faced so many challenges together... I think we'll be fine."

They were a ways into the Everfree Forest by now. A cloud of purple smoke - the bidding of Nightmare Moon - darted overhead. And the second that "we'll be fine" left Twilight's lips, the cliff they were standing on gave out beneath them. The four ponies without wings careened downwards, squealing in terror as they skidded down the crumbling dirt. Luckily, everypony reacted as they had so long ago; before the purple unicorn knew it, she was hanging onto a ledge for dear life, looking up at Applejack. The panic she'd had a moment earlier at sliding off of a cliff faded under the farm pony's steady gaze.

"Let go?" Twilight Sparkle guessed, peering up at her green-eyed friend imploringly.

Applejack stopped herself mid-nod and craned her neck to look past Twi. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had just finished lowering Rarity and Pinkie to safety. They were getting into position to catch Twilight.

"Just wait a sec, now, sugarcube... All right, _now_!"

Twilight Sparkle let go, no questions asked. Her stomach dropped at the brief fall, but she was instantly still again, being held in place by a pressure on her ribs.

With a smile and a murmured "Thanks, girls," at the two pegasi, Twilight was lowered to the ground. The group paused a moment, waiting for Applejack to make her way down, and soon continued on their way. The purple smoke dashed ahead of them, off to activate their next delay.

Fluttershy could sometimes be a little scared of creatures. Bear needs a backrub? No problem. Dragon needs some scolding? She gets around to it. Large, hungry predators could be a little different, though. Her imagination wandered as the group plodded on towards the Elements. _What if the manticore had been hungry, instead of just having a thorn in it? Then..._ The pink-haired caretaker shuddered, forcing the thought out of her head. No, she would've noticed. Hungry animals act differently. Why even think of such things? Fluttershy chuckled quietly. After all this time, the Everfree Forest still got to her.

Then the manticore's roar bellowed out in front of them. Fluttershy's friends stepped back, letting her handle the situation. Just as before, she spoke softly to the beast and removed the thorn.

The next two challenges were handled similarly; Pinkie didn't hesitate to sing her fear-banishing song and Rarity immediately soothed the serpent and sliced off her own tail.

Then came the bridge where the Shadowbolts were supposed to appear.

In the time where Twilight has been made a Princess, the time that these six ponies belong in, Luna's power to roam dreams is a power known by many. The concerned and benevolent Princess Luna can bring sweet dreams and meanings to the mind of a pony. But the sinister Nightmare Moon warps this ability in a very different way… The first time that the Shadowbolts appeared, all that time ago, how was a mare who'd been trapped in the moon for a thousand able to know what a modern-day team of elite flyers would look like?

Gliding undetected in the inky blackness of night, a small part of the pestering purple cloud broke off of the cloud's main body once the serpent had been overcome. It silently followed the group of friends, watching and waiting for the opportunity. Rainbow Dash flew across the foggy chasm to tie the rope bridge. That was the moment. The bit of the purple cloud quickly slunk towards the sky-blue pegasus, pressed itself to her chest, and sunk itself into her heart, just a small bit. _It knows your dreams..._ I̡̮̤̟̺͍̥̫t̷̝̺̟̖͢͝ ͚k̸̛͈̖̦̝̟n͕̯o̖̥͡w̛̠͟͞ͅs͏̡̯̫̤͖̼̲̯͠ ̢̡͙̘̲̤͠ͅy͏̡̣͇̱̮͔͇̳o̗̟͓͇̖̞͟ú̴̝̱̙̯̘͖̞ͅͅr̵̳̯̭͙͘ͅ ͕͇̩d̵̗̰̺͕̖̀e̙͖s̶͏̛͖̺i̥̣̰͙̖͇̦͕r̛̪̬̭̱̪̺̲̕e͇̻̥͙͇s̢͉͕̺̪͉.̷̨͇̮̞̩͇̰̲̱ It was out in a wink. Joining the rest of the cloud once more, the wraith moved quickly to form a pony stepping out of the mist…

Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "Starlight Glimmer?" _What's she doing here?_ The rainbow-haired Wonderbolt had been looking out for three weirdoes, not… Not _her._

"Rainbow Dash," the illusion said, flashing the pegasus a little smile. "I found the way back! I'm here bring everyone back to where we belong." The fake Starlight waved a rolled-up piece of parchment, as if to prove her point.

Dashie was bewildered. "That's… That's great, Starlight! But, uh, how'd you find us?"

"I'll explain on the way," came the reply. "But you have to come with me, _now._ "

On the other side of the bridge, Twilight watched, trying to figure out what was going on. _That can't be the real Starlight,_ the unicorn reasoned, frowning a bit. _This far back_ _in time, Starlight was all the way across Equestria. She can't be here… That's not how the spell works._ Behind her, Rarity wondered aloud about what Starlight could possibly be doing there. _I have to warn her,_ Twilight Sparkle decided. "Hey!" she called across the chasm to her friend. "Rainbow! Dash! That's not -"

The illusion's eyes flicked over to Twilight. It smiled. Then the fog thickened maliciously, cutting Rainbow off from her friends.

"- the real Starlight Glimmer… Ugh," the unicorn sighed. "Fluttershy, c'mere for a second. Plan B."

Across the broken bridge, the young flier was all questions. "Why can't they come with us, too," Rainbow prodded.

"We have to go right this minute, Dash," fake Starlight insisted.

"You said that a minute ago," the pegasus pointed out, rolling her eyes. "You can wait just a little while."

"If you wait any longer, we won't be able to go back!"

That seemed to get Rainbow Dash's attention. The fake grew hopeful. Then the urgency faded from the pegasus mare's eyes again. "I don't want to go with you if they can't come, too," she said firmly.

"We'll come back for them! Hurry up and come with me already," fake Starlight said, grinding her teeth.

 _Come back for them…_ The thought bounced around in the pony's head. She could save her friends if she went right now, right?

Before the cloud-kicker could say another word, Fluttershy emerged from the fog and alighted on the gravel next to her. "Hi, Rainbow," the pale pegasus said, eyeing the fake Starlight warily. "Twilight wanted me to tell you that this Starlight Glimmer can't be real because the spell doesn't work like that."

The wraith looked taken aback.

"Do you need help tying the bridge," Fluttershy offered.

"Um," Rainbow Dash stammered, shaking her head, "Er, no, I've got this. Thank, Fluttershy." She took the rope up in her mouth and began lashing it around a rock. The fake Starlight ran away, vanishing into the mist.

* * *

Ani and Solar came back with frosted hooves and a case of the sniffles. They also came back directly into the library of the Two Sisters, bringing a tiny heap of snow with them. Starlight, sensing it was a time to act and not ask questions, took her longest break since entering the library so she could warm them up. It felt awful, at first, to stop trying to save Twilight and everyone, but deep down she knew she needed a rest. So she conjured some hot soup from a couple of mushrooms growing nearby. Then, after giving the soup to her two friends, she cast a spell that made her horn glow with a heat, which spread through their bodies in a single touch. Amazingly, neither stallion had been harmed by shrapnel. Once they looked a little less haggard, Starlight brought a large torch into the library from the hall. She pushed a few tables out of the way with her magic (so as not to catch them on fire), placed the torch in the space she cleared, and lit it. Ta-da: instant fireplace. All three ponies settled around it. As they ate, dried, and warmed up, Solar Moon told the story of what had happened to them.

"You were there, Starlight," he recounted, a glassy look in his eyes. His body shook with a small tremble as he exhaled.

Resting her head on a folded-up cloth, the pony in question asked sardonically: "Fighting Princess Twilight, right?"

The scholar's ears flicked in surprise. "How did you know that," he asked in astonishment. Starlight Glimmer could only groan and bury her face in the cloth as a response.

"Well, you were also there, Universe," he continued. "And a peculiar changeling. Do changelings have manes -" Starlight shook her head no, they generally don't "- well, this one did. Green and black, I believe,"

"What was I doing," Ani asked through his sniffles.

"You were passed out and floating away on some ice."

"No, the alternate me, silly," the reality-jumper yawned.

"Oh," Solar Moon said, and once again his eyes grew wide and glassy in awestruck remembrance. "You were clad in a sort of black and silver vest..."

The details of armor and weapons blurred together as the weight of Starlight's exhaustion gently overwhelmed her, like a full-grown whale gracefully twirling onto her face. _Huh_ , the mare thought to herself. _Get tired enough and your eyelids actually start to feel heavy._ Her friends' pleasant chatter and the food in her belly made her feel so, so sleepy... Then the last millimeter of firelight was shut out by her eyelids. The spellcaster drifted off to the land of dreams.

It started out as a mild form of nightmare. She was working to find a counter-spell in the Castle of the Two Sisters, just like she had been all week. The library was a different shape than normal and grass grew out of some of the pages of her books, but this didn't seem strange to her sleeping brain. _I need get to the starfish,_ dream-Starlight said to herself. By "starfish", one can only assume that she meant "answer". So, logically, the unicorn tried to scratch away the grass. It kept growing back, so she moved on.

Then, abruptly, she was crying for no reason in particular. _Help me,_ Starlight Glimmer wept, crying out into the recesses of her own mind. _Somepony help!_

A shudder ran through the pony's body, in the dream and in real life. All at once, Starlight was aware that she was having a dream. She turned her head to the side. A door had appeared in the air beside her. It was opening up… _Luna!_ The Princess of the Night stepped out of the door in her full, shimmery-haired glory.

 _Starlight Glimmer,_ the alicorn greeted the dreamer. _You have, as the young fillies say nowadays, really screwed up._

 _Way to rub it in,_ dream-Starlight said, overcome by a fresh wave of tears.

 _What? No. I am here to help. Together, we shall bring Princess Twilight back into our time, yes?_

 _Y-yes,_ the unicorn responded, feeling relieved already.

Luna guided her attention back to the grassy book pages. The Mistress of the Moon took a bite of the grass, clearing it away.

 _Oh,_ Starlight said. She'd read the book before, in real life, but whatever Luna had done… The information was clear now, unobstructed by a foggy brain. _This might actually be the answer!_

* * *

A/N: Heyo! Here I am, updating at midnight. Hi. This chapter was published on 11/6/16's 11:50-something at night and updated in the wee hours of 11/7. Whee

Snowfrost, you might've recognized the alternate-universe version of your OC. It's not the most dialogue-ridden encounter, but... Well, I hope you're okay with that representation of Nightshade.

I can't believe I've taken so long with updates that this fic is lasting from one hiatus into another.

Ani, whaaaat is Christmas in July - it sounds wonderful :p - and did you have a happy 4th of July? I hope all you lovely people reading this had a happy fourth. See you next time!


	11. Sorry

All right, this sucks. As you might've noticed, the next chapter is late. I didn't mean for it to be late. You guys are so patient and supportive and I'm always terrified of disappointing you. :')

I'm sorry, Ani. Anyone else who's been reading this, I'm so, so sorry. Mostly Ani, though. I'm sorry.

Writing a story is like juicing my soul. It can be difficult when there's not much juice left. I'm sorry to say that, for the moment, I don't have any juice left to write this story with. It's become so stressful and my soul is a dry husk.

It's distracting me from my other responsibilities, too. I'm failing everything, as always. Things got so bad that I promised I'd kill myself if I didn't do better in a month. There's a parking garage that I can see from my window. It would be so easy to walk to the top of it and just tip myself over its edge...

But I don't 100% want to do that. I owe it to my family to try to actually succeed. So there are three options left for The Cutie Bonds, which is the main reason why I'm putting up this note. We can either:

1\. Wait until December 5th or 6th for the next chapter or

2\. I could just tell you how it ends or

3\. Ani could adopt the story, if he wants.

We could also do 2 and 3. I could tell you how I wanted this story to end, just so you know how it ends in my head, and Animateduniverse, you could do whatever ending you want. If you decide on 2, I'll try to have that up this weekend. So yeah! Ani, if you want the story, it's yours. If, for some reason, you guys choose All of the Above... I mean, I guess we could do that too. You guys tell me what you wanna go with, all right? I hope everything's been going all right for you, whatever your everything is!

Sorry again for putting you through all this crap.

Best wishes,

Margo ^_^


	12. Chapter 12

_**Warning: This chapter contains references and scenes resembling the infamous My Little Pony gore fic, Cupcakes. I tried to keep out details, so this wouldn't be sickening, but it's still a tiny bit icky, so be warned!**_

* * *

The memory problems started after they brought cupcakes. In the early morning, with stars still faintly twinkling overhead, Starlight Glimmer and Solar Moon had gone out into town to get food and to clear their minds. They discussed the spellcaster's dream - the details of which she had written down - and tossed around ideas. By the time they came back to the Castle of the Two Sisters, supplies and frosted sweet treats in tow, Starlight was thrumming with energy and excitement. There was every indication that they were finally on the right track! She had to write it all down, every bit of it, and see if they were right..!

She hadn't planned there being any distractions.

Solar Moon had arranged the food on a table, motioning for Ani to come over, to eat up. Two sandwiches were gone in a gulp. He practically inhaled a pear. Solar, discreetly chewing across from him, was impressed at this. He soon became puzzled, though, as the food that Ani didn't scarf up immediately was his cupcake. Upon seeing it, everything about the brown stallion seemed to slow down. The joker's eyes adopted a clouded, faraway look. His entire demeanor went from bubbly and joyful to meek and... And paranoid?

 _How counterintuitive_ , the golden pony thought. _One would think that a pony such as he would love sweets._

"What is the matter," the scholar asked, once he noticed his friend's discomfort. "Is the cupcake unsatisfactory?"

"Huh? Um," Ani stammered, snapping his gaze up to meet Solar's. He frowned, as if trying to concentrate... "The cupcake is fine," he said eventually. "I just felt weird all of a sudden."

"Mm. All right," the green-eyed stallion replied, though his tone betrayed that he probably did not think things were all right. He kept an eye on Ani, who took a small bite out of the cupcake. _Huh,_ Solar Moon thought. _I guess he really is fine._ He turned his gaze to the book at his side, just missing the small tremor that rippled through Ani's body.

A sense of studiousness had just settled over the room when Ani started humming. Loudly. The peppy tune rattled through the air, shattering the silence and Starlight and Solar's concentration. He was happily hopping around back and forth, lost in his own little world. Starlight's ears flicked in annoyance. She turned to glare at him. He didn't notice.

"Ani, what are you doing? If you're not going to help, please don't make it harder for me to concentrate," the mare implored.

This made the unicorn frown again, with the same troubled expression that had come over his face earlier. He looked around the room in confusion. When his eyes met Starlight's, he spoke: "I'm sorry, Starry. I forgot where I was."

The look on his face pulled Starlight Glimmer's mind several years back in time, to somepony she hadn't thought of in years: Her aunt. Ani's statement reminded her of her aunt, Star Spindle, who'd had Alzheimer's. It was not a pleasant set of memories; even after the salve of time had been applied, being forgotten by the pony who'd baked cookies with her on Hearth Warming's eve, the pony who'd read bedtime stories to her on cold nights... It still stung. Memory loss was not something to be taken lightly. Shrugging off her discomfort at leaving her task yet again, the spellcaster wound her way through the stacks of books to get to Animated Universe.

"Hey, woah," Ani said with a small, nervous laugh. He tilted his head to the side. "What's that serious look for?"

"Something's obviously not right with you," Starlight informed the reality-jumper. She paused to look at him. "If you don't mind, I think I should cast a little memory spell on you. A tune-up, you could call it."

The brown unicorn gulped. A toxic, paranoid feeling had been growing in his gut, a feeling that should've been completely alien to sunlit library mornings like this one. He dry-blinked, shook his head and said: "I, um… I don't mind."

The former cult leader stopped. She was suddenly struck by how this situation was reminiscent of her old ways: Ani looked fearful. She was relying on those past instincts of hers, the ones that told her she could fix ponies' minds with magic. Instant, easy, simple as snowflakes. An abuse of power. A nagging doubt surfaced in her thoughts, quietly: _maybe I shouldn't…_

 _No,_ she thought, trying to put her mind back on track. _I'm going to help him. Going to help out my… My friend. This is fine,_ her inner voice said, feigning confidence. The flimsy self-assurance let her hoof move, let it take one step forwards. And another, and another, until she stood nose-to-nose with the afflicted stallion.

"This should clear up any disorientation," the unicorn mare said as a bubble of light began collecting at the tip of her horn.

"Oh, goody," her friend replied, his voice almost dream-like. His tone was struggling to convey the barest strip of levity. "This has happened before, I think. At, um… Flense rug."

Starlight Glimmer, of course, had no idea what that meant. She stayed her course: "Er, okay. This shouldn't hurt at all, Ani," she said, touching her magic to his forehead. "It shouldn't take long, either – Ani? Animated Universe, what's - ?!"

The joker's pupils had narrowed to horror-wrought pinpricks; a cold sweat enveloped his coat. The lavender-eyed unicorn was engulfed in mortal terror: _No no no no no. It's hurting him. Why is it hurting him?_ Through a shuddering onslaught of hyperventilation, Ani began: "Starlight, maybe this isn't such a good id- "

But the spell was already taking hold.

Animated Universe dropped to the library's musty floor, limp, reliving a set of memories that had been too horrible for his mind to handle. And Starlight Glimmer, riding on a wave of panic at having caused this, cast the spell without thinking. She went in after him, into his mind.

Right away, there were things that Starlight just _knew_. She was in an alternate universe. She'd lived there for almost six months. It was a rare happy time. There was a friend – Steadywind – that she… No, _he_ – Ani – these were Ani's memories. There was a friend that he held dear.

And there was an incident at the bakery.

They were going to a birthday party. Steadywind – a dust-brown pony with a red-streaked mane – had to pick up the cake.

"I can go alone," the Earth Pony had insisted. Ani had a bad feeling about the place; he wanted to go with his friend, keep him safe. But there was no reason to. It was just a bakery.

"I'll be fine," Steadywind said with a smile over his shoulder, already trotting away. "You go on ahead!" And that was the last time Animated Universe saw his friend whole.

The other stallion was an hour late to the party. Two hours. Three. They made do without the cake and, for that matter, without Ani, who'd gone to check on his shaggy-haired pal after thirty minutes. That is to say, he finally decided to go into the bakery after staring at the door for a solid half-hour.

The alternate Pinkie Pie had been sloppy that day. She'd given Steadywind a "free sample" before he could leave. The poor fool – always prone to frequent nosebleeds – had started bleeding as soon as the drug took effect. A slow drip. It left a dotted, smeared trail, leading to…

To…

The memories got shakier.

The trail was followed. It led to what appeared to be a wall. Ani teleported past it.

He found himself in a dark cellar. Starlight, who'd been silently spectating the events with a sense of foreboding curiosity, gagged. The stench of gore hit like a wall of sand, running into their lungs.

Steadywind was tied down. Being dissected. Alive, conscious. Standing over him, a flat-haired Pinkie Pie was inanely babbling, making conversation with her victim. Cutie Marks, stitched together, were draped over her body.

Ani had been frozen with fear. He wanted to look away. To teleport away.

His magic couldn't seem to work.

Pinkamena, aware of the shuffling noises behind her, decided to greet her new guest. She turned to face him, snapping her head towards him in her usual energetic way, smiling a smile that didn't quite touch her too-wide eyes.

A violent shudder ran through the reality-jumper's very soul. His mind was resisting Starlight Glimmer's magic. His sanity was fighting to stay intact. The memory flickered like a faulty film.

He'd used his talent to confuse Pinkamena. Tried to free his friend. He was fast, but Pinkie was faster.

Starlight, experiencing her friend's panic at full force, scrambled to do something, to help him. Some things were better left unremembered.

The images kept going, though; the brown stallion desperately pulling at Steadywind's restraints, Pinkamena taking a scalpel up between her teeth, brandishing it –

 _This is all in his mind,_ Starlight thought, _he might not have had control over the situation, but his mind –_

The pink-haired psychopath had plunged the metal into Steadywind, twisted it, ending him with a few more convulsions and spurts of red – unwilling to let Ani take her morsel away from her.

Starlight Glimmer inserted an image of herself into the remembered scene. The walls were boiling with purple chaos; Real and Imagined melted together as her friend's sanity fell apart.

Impossibly, _Ani_ was now the one tied down. Pinkie approached with a bone saw, chirping on about half-portions. The unicorn mare didn't know if anything here would kill Animated Universe in real life, but she didn't want to find out.

Ani's limbs were completely restrained, digging into his skin, keeping him stuck and still and helpless as Pinkamena began to slice. It was one of his worst nightmares come to life, literally; gruesome visions had plagued him until he finally forced himself to forget. And now… He was beyond panic, beyond horror, beyond fear. Every animal instinct surged to get free –

And then he was. Loose. Standing. He'd been teleported, but not by his own magic. The portaler was still in the room, just not tied to anything –

And then his lungs seemed to stop working, because Starlight Glimmer had taken his place. Their eyes met. She was being sawn in half, lengthwise. The stallion should've been overcome with fear, despair, nausea, anything. But nothing felt real anymore. A shaky numbness settled over him.

"It's not real," Starlight said, as if reading his thoughts. Her voice was calm, clear and steady. She didn't take her eyes off Ani's. "Ani, none of this is happening." The sound of sinews snapping apart bounced off the chamber's dark walls. It was the reformed villain's body, coming apart, but she ignored it.

Something about her calm seemed to start Ani back up again, if just a little. He went from numbness back down to hysteria. His words were turned back on: "I can feel my heartbeat," the sentence started, fast and soft at first, "that feels pretty real to me, Starlight. It's going really fast. I'm, I'm sweating."

"Okay. Okay, take deep breaths," his friend intoned, not breaking eye contact, "Nice and slow. Focus on breathing, Ani." Something spilled out of her, onto the floor.

The joker obeyed, failing at first. But he held Starlight Glimmer's gaze. The breaths came, in and out. In. Out. In. Out.

"What do I do now," Animated Universe soon squeaked, once he was breathing somewhat evenly. He felt, very keenly, that he might cry, though from which awful emotion was impossible to say.

"You're passed out, remember? On the library floor, with two friends right by you to keep you safe," the light-colored unicorn soothed. The rest of the room faded away as he focused on her. "Just wake up and we're outta here."

Ani nodded. He was eager to escape. _Wake up. Wake up._

The two ponies rushed up from the depths of unconsciousness, back to the surface of reality.

And his eyes let light in and tears out.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle had seriously changed over the years. She'd always had a lot of potential for magical power; any increase in her "skill level" was generally just a sign that she was opening herself up to that power some more. It was like letting a river flow through a set of doors; difficult to do at first, but easy as pie once you were sure of your strength.

So when Past Twilight's mind entered Present Twilight's body, she was overcome. The doors were wide open, the river pummeling her at full force. Alicorn Twilight's veins were absolutely pulsating with magic. It felt tingly... And volatile... And... Powerful. _Oh goodness. Oh no. Oh Celestia. Help._

From the moment she woke up, the poor unprepared Twilight Sparkle was terrified that she'd accidentally hurt herself. After several minutes of sweaty, nervous stillness, Spike came in to check on her. His presence calmed her down a bit. They exchanged a few confused words and phrases. Before long, some of the young mare's manic intellectual curiosity returned, tempered by an unsettling awareness of the explosive substance running alongside her blood.

Her questions - and Spike's inability to field them - worked her up to a state of extreme agitation and bewilderment. Fear of exploding temporarily forgotten, Twilight ended up dashing through the castle at top speed, tripping up on her slightly-longer legs and flopping wings.

Then came the incident out in front of the Castle, with the crowd of ponies demanding things from their Princess. Then came this "Starlight Glimmer" pony, who was supposed to be Twilight's student.

The purple alicorn couldn't imagine one of her disciples messing up as bad as all _this._

Discord dropped by unexpectedly, half-scaring Miss Sparkle to death. While recovering from her shock, alone, the "Princess" thought over her options. She could go out in public and risk letting everypony know that their Princess of Friendship had no memory of the past few years, causing mass hysteria. She could contact Celestia – _no, she obviously trusted me enough to make me the Princess of Friendship,_ Twilight thought, _I can't let her down now! What am I supposed to say? "Uh, thanks for being personally invested in my education, Your Majesty, but I apparently can't remember a damned thing"?!_ The pony groaned and buried her face in a pillow. She stayed there, motionless, for fifteen minutes. Then, true to her nature, she got up and eventually found her way to her crystal castle's library.

"Spike? Spike!" Twilight Sparkle called out into the sparkling hallways. "Get over here! I need you to tell me everything you possibly can regarding my current situation!"

Sighing, she started inspecting the remarkably well-organized books. If there was a problem to be beat, she had to first know what it was. And after that, well…

 _I can beat it with information,_ the inexperienced filly declared silently. _I always have._

* * *

Back in the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters, a trio of friends tried to make sense of the newfound trauma. And down on the ground, amongst their hooves, where cleansing tears pooled like dew, a purple flower poked up through the stone.

* * *

All righty! We're back in business. I hope this was an okay chapter :D - I intend to write more regularly from now on, so you can either expect the next chapter in a week... Or, if I screw that up, at around this time next month. Fingers crossed!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Animateduniverse! This might sound odd, but your out-of-the-blue reviews really brightened my day.

I hope the past few months have been ok for you! Aside from witnessing the country of USA go through some kind of schizophrenic episode. Gosh darn it 2016.

Aaaaand I'd just like to note that I haven't read Cupcakes, nor do I intend to read Cupcakes, so the scenes that reference that fanfic in this chapter are minimally detailed both for my sake and that of the reader.

And, in case anyone was wondering, I'm getting help about the whole "wanting-to-die" thing. yay.

Again I hope this chapter didn't suck 3 and see ya next time~


	13. Chapter 13

The ancient library looked cozy and peaceful, even when the ponies inside were falling apart.

Starlight Glimmer had explained the gist of what happened – quickly and while moving her hoof in gentle circular motions on Ani's sob-shaken back – to Solar Moon when the two memory-questers regained consciousness. Motes of dust floated down through the castle's cracked walls on sunbeams all the while, lazy and indifferent to the howls of any emotionally shredded equine.

 _They can probably hear him in all the way in Ponyville,_ Starlight mused detachedly. She should've been in the moment, one could argue, one hundred percent focused on her friend or her spell-testing or any number of things. But there's only so much a mortal mind can handle before its thoughts start drifting apart. The three friends may well have passed that threshold several times over.

Solar Moon had produced a handkerchief for Ani to blow his nose on, which the joker did, loudly. It produced a noise like a goose choking on a bike horn. "I don't know if she's here, if Pinkamena's here" Animated Universe was saying, trying to keep his voice steady as it travelled through a tear-burned throat. Fresh waves of grief and panic started dribbling out of his eyes. "She could be. Probably not. But I don't know if I can keep going, _knowing_ that she - that it - might -" the words were cut up by his hyperventilation "- be - here - doing - that - to - pon - ies."

The green-eyed scholar, accustomed to comforting his sister, hugged Ani and waited for him to calm down. Starlight Glimmer, feeling it was the right thing to do, followed the gold stallion's lead with only a breath of awkwardness. Ani, never one for casual shame or hesitation, readily welcomed their embrace.

"I - tried - to - " the dark-maned stallion sucked in some air, trying to slow his hiccupping breaths " - travel. As far away from that universe as I could. I skipped over so many realities before I felt - _hic_ \- safe." His eyes, out of focus, were looking down, in the direction of the purple bloom that had sprung up at the group's feet. For the moment, he was too shaken to note it as something out of the ordinary…

"Even after all that, I still," Ani squeaked, the pitch of his voice warbling from the raw emotions tugging on it, "had to forget. Don't you see, Starlight? Solar? I might've been able to kill her. If I could open a portal in the middle of her…"

Starlight Glimmer froze, disturbed by the thought of her bouncy little friend killing somepony. "Have you ever been able to do that before," she asked cautiously, "harm somepony with your portals?"

The shaking stallion shook his head. "No," he admitted in a dry whisper. "But – if I had to – "

"Shh…" Solar Moon soothed. His steady demeanor had turned protective, almost parental. "You are with us right now. You are okay. You do not have to hurt anypony."

"Deep breaths," Starlight reminded the broken joker quietly. "Take deep breaths… That's it. In and out, slowly…"

With a gulp and another painful hiccup of a sob, Ani nodded a few times. He blinked out tears and mimicked Starlight's breathing. The three stayed huddled together, resting. Feeling the exhaustion in their limbs and minds and hearts. Starlight closed her eyes, trying to see if her eyelids had any peace behind them. Solar Moon stared straight ahead, into nothingness.

Animated Universe noticed that his tears had fallen, dewlike, onto some velvet-soft petals.

"Hey," Ani tried to say. His voice felt like it had a cobweb in it. The stallion cleared his throat with a little cough, and then said again: "Hey, what's that?" He leaned down to touch his nose to it, dislodging the group's hug. His two companions followed his gaze, curious to see what the fuss was about.

The plant had cracked through solid stone to show its delicate head to the world. When Ani touched it, eyes wide with curiosity, the flower's growth visibly sped up. The ponies reacted with alarm: the brown-eyed stallion backed away quickly, Starlight did an apprehensive backwards trot, and the green-maned scholar fell on his side, then awkwardly scooted away. The whole room seemed to hold its breath as the plant creaked and stretched to the height of a dog, then a filly. _This feels oddly familiar_ , Starlight thought quietly, wondering where she'd seen or heard of such a thing before. Then, with a slight tremble, the flower's petals spread open.

Three sets of equine eyes peered at the blossom inquisitively. A silver necklace with a golden coin-like charm on it lay in the middle of the flower's bright yellow face. The flower's head drooped slightly forwards, as if offering its talisman to the brown-coated stallion. Ani, in response, took a step forward, picked the necklace up with his magic…

 _We should probably be cautious about this,_ it occurred to Starlight to think. Transfixed by the flower's appearance, all three ponies had assumed a trancelike state. With a blink of her eyes and a clearing of her head, the unicorn opened her mouth, about to deliver a careful " _maybe don't put that on right away_ ".

It was too late, of course. Her friend had already donned the mysterious jewelry.

Animated Universe's features were lit up once more, shaped into something resembling his former wattage of joy. There was still something unwhole behind his eyes and something weary in his movements when he turned to express wonder at his friends… _But look on the bright side, Starlight,_ the lavender-eyed mare thought, _he's not crying anymore._

"Look at this! It's cool," Ani half-smiled. "I think it's for me!"

 _A magic flower comes out of the ground with an object inside of it…_ Starlight Glimmer was thinking.

"What makes you say that," Solar Moon probed, curious.

 _Where have I heard of that before?_

"Um, well," the reality-jumper replied, biting his lip. He tilted his head down and lifted the coin to eye level, trying to get a good look at it. "It has some inscriptions on it… That's my name! I think. This is some weird writing."

"Here, let me see," the scholar offered, taking hold of the coin himself. "It might be something I am familiar with. Hmm. Ah, yes, this is certainly a form of ancient script. It says -" Solar squinted in concentration "- 'The Jumper'. So yes, it is safe to presume that this object was intended for you."

"Ooh!" Ani squealed, a mere few decibels quieter than usual. He looked at the writing again then, aware that this was a point where he would normally bounce happily, bounced happily. One could try to feel normal even when things weren't.

The portaler's motion caused the coin, which had a hole through the side of it for the object's golden string, to flip. A shimmering appeared over Ani's back.

Noticing this, Starlight's head tilted inquisitively. "Hey, Ani, do that again," she asked.

"Do wh- Hop? Okey-dokey," the unicorn stallion complied, executing another chipper hop. The shimmering ceased.

"Huh. Did you see that," the reformed villain asked, this time directing her words at Solar.

Solar Moon nodded.

"See what?" Ani enquired, twisting to see what they were looking at.

At that moment, the feeling of familiarity that had been bugging Starlight ever since the flower presented itself chose this moment to show its roots. "Oh," the unicorn mare said aloud, mildly stunned by the revelation. _Twilight told me about this,_ she thought, fighting to remember it correctly, _she and her friends were presented with some kind of… box, right? At the Tree of Harmony, a box that they had to earn the keys to sprouted out of a purple flower._

As soon as she'd gathered this thought, Starlight Glimmer shared it with the two unicorns.

"The Tree of Harmony, huh," Ani said, humming thoughtfully. "That's some pretty deep magic."

"Fascinating," Solar Moon added. He looked like he meant it. "Do you have any speculation to offer in regards to how it might pertain to _him -_ " he nodded towards Ani "- and to us?"

For quite some time now, the issue of _I have to get back to work_ had been weighing on the edges of Starlight's consciousness. _The answer came to you in a dream, Starlight. Hurry up and test it, Starlight._ The little voice in her head had only grown more insistent during this mellower stretch of conversation.

"Well," the purple-maned unicorn hesitated, formulating a plan of action. "Twilight had some note on her experience back at the Castle. Actually, I think she published the information in a book? Why don't you guys go to her castle's library and check it out. It'll be great! You can get some food while you're over there, maybe check on how everypony's doing without Princess Twilight."

A few words were traded - _hmm_ s and _yes_ es and nods of assent - and the curiosity of both stallions decided that they would go with Starlight's plan. Solar Moon was curious about the history of other such items and how it might be able to help with the trouble they were all embroiled in. Ani was wondering what a tree of Fate and Power and Magic and stuff could want to do with _him_ , of all ponies. _Yikes._ Hopefully it was something good. Was it too late to stuff the necklace back into the flower? To cram the purple petals back into the stone crack?

"And you shall get back to work while we are gone, I presume," Solar asked, "testing out the solution you dreamt up?"

"That's right," his friend replied, sucking in a breath of air to steel her nerves. Could all this finally be coming to an end?

Ani came out of nowhere with a bear hug for the workaholic, lifting Starlight off of her hooves. "Don't stress out too much, okay? It'll turn your eyelids into blueberry leather," he confided cheerily.

"Ack – ok – sure – Ani! Let me breathe," came the strangled reply.

It was the third-to-last time they would tell each other goodbyes.

* * *

A/N: Okay! I meant for more stuff to happen in this chapter, but I wanted to get this posted sooner rather than later so... Here we are! Sorry 'bout the lateness.

Happy New Year, guys! I hope your holidays were grand or, at least, warm and nice! Hello 2017!

I have Four or Five Things planned for the next chapter. Oughta be neat; stay tuned!

Thanks again for being here, by the way. You're the best readers I could ask for :'D


	14. Chapter 14

It was a beautiful day to be strolling through the forest. The trees blocked out most of the sunshine, true, so the air _could_ be considered just a bit too chilly, but Twilight Sparkle didn't mind. Her mind was on far more important issues. Plant matter sprung under her hoofsteps - a leaf, a twig, part of a bush - as she followed Spike's lead.

They were on their way to The Castle of the Two Sisters.

Several things – or events, or catastrophes - had happened since Luna had appeared to Starlight in a dream, but the image still burned clearly in the mare's memory. The fears melted off. The grass cleared away. And behind it, on those dreamt-up pages, was the answer. Or, at least, _part_ of the answer. _Perhaps,_ Starlight thought as she cleared herself a space at one of the library's book-cluttered tables, _it's a key that leads to another key. I don't know. As long as it's something…_

And Starlight Glimmer felt, very strongly, that the knowledge from the dream _was_ something. She just had to be sure. She had to test it first, on herself.

Sweet sounds peeped in from the surrounding forest. Starlight began penning what she'd seen in the dream, just to make sure she was remembering it all correctly. The birds, as if cheering for her, spurted out a peppering of birdsong all at once. Or maybe they were just falling out of their trees. The unicorn, in any case, thought nothing of it. Her mind was re-entering that special place; a place of reason and order, a place where intuition was amplified and solutions presented themselves almost effortlessly: the realm of her Cutie Mark.

Once she had the spellwork laid out in front of her, a new problem crept up from the recesses of the pastel mare's mind. She had a sneaking suspicion that testing the spell would transport her back to that afternoon from however long ago, where a version of her future self had taken over her body and left her with a punishing bout of dizziness.

 _Maybe I'll throw up again._ She grimaced at the thought. _Maybe I should try to explain this to my past self._

She remembered everything going smoothly. She didn't think her past self had come to the future and destroyed some important artifact or whatnot. _Should I write a note to myself? I don't remember much of a note, if there was one. If there… Will be one? Augh,_ Starlight thought, putting a hoof to her temple. _Sweet Celestia, I'm so sick of time travel._

She took up a quill and dipped it in an inkwell, then scribbled the first hundred frenetic words on her mind. _Should I say – No, no…_ Starlight crushed her note into a ball, immediately targeting another scrap of paper in her inky frenzy. Then another. Then another. Five minutes of writing turned into ten, then twenty. She couldn't seem to get the words right -

The unicorn's nervous internal dialogue was waved away by the sound of somepony calling out in the ancient castle hallways.

"It's right up ahead, Twilight! You're gonna love it…"

It sounded like Spike. The sound of scaly pattering, intermingled with light hoofsteps, seemed to confirm it. "Over here," Starlight Glimmer called out in reply. The Castle of the Two Sisters was quite easy to get lost in, if you hadn't been there before. _And_ _this_ _version of Twilight,_ the weary spellcaster remembered, _has never set foot in this castle before in her life._

"Starliiiiiiiiight!" Spike's rasp echoed out from underneath the tall library entrance. The baby dragon grinned broadly as he pattered over. "Long time no see!"

Starlight scoffed. She was happy to see the little guy. "You say that like it's been years," she replied. Then the mare paled and hastened to say: "It… _hasn't_ been years, right?"

"Nah. Feels like it, though," the dragon quipped, standing on tiptoe to peer at all the papers his friend had lain out on the table.

"Mm, yeah," the unicorn nodded solemnly. A small realization hit her. "Um, Spike? Where's Twilight?"

As if on cue, a faint echo warbled into the library from the stone belly of the ruined castle: " _Spike?!_ "

"She was right behind me," Spike remarked, frowning, then called out: "We're over here!"

"Do you… wanna go and help her?" Starlight Glimmer questioned slowly, after a few solid second of Spike continuing to look at her work.

"Nah, I think she'll find us," the little assistant replied with, it seemed to Starlight, an unwarranted amount of confidence.

"Okay…"

"What's all this for?" His question wedged itself in before silence could take hold.

"Spike, are you sure-" Starlight tried to say, still concerned for Twilight.

"Are you trying to get everypony back?"

The mare blinked. "Yeah. Of course. That's all I've been doing." What _else_ did he think she would be doing?

"Oh good!" he exclaimed. "It's not that having the old Twilight back is a bad thing, not at all, but she's really bewildered to be here."

"I was about to test a spell now, actually," Starlight stated.

"That's great! I keep having to explain little things to her, all over the place, and it's really weird for everypony that the Princess of Friendship doesn't give two carrots about friendship," Spike said. The words seemed to be pouring out, as if he hadn't been able to talk to anypony about it. With the rest of the Mane 6 gone, he probably hadn't. "Not that I've been letting many ponies in to talk to her – I knew _that_ was important – but the ones that do are confused. Anyway, I'm really happy that you're working on this, Starlight. I had a few ideas myself! I tried to read up on them, but I'm no magic expert. Reading was always Twilight's thing, but that's all she's done lately. You're going to test this? Don't let me stop you. If you want, I could suggest -"

"You know what," Starlight cut the dragon off, exhaling loudly, "you're right. I was going to test this. I'm testing it now. I'm not sure if it'll work, though."

That was not true. She knew, as if by some instinct or premonition, that the first try would send her back in time. That was why she'd been delaying for so long, writing all those notes.

"Really?" Spike's eyes widened. "Wow, ah, should I tell Twi?"

"Yeah, yeah," the spellcaster breathed, fiddling with the papers in front of her one last time. She took a step back.

"Spi-ike!" Twilight's echo beat a bit closer.

"Coming!" the little assistant called. He was scrambling backwards, away from the gathering sense of magical electricity crackling in the air around Starlight. In a normal tone, he coughed: "I'm just- I'm gonna -" he pointed towards the door, then careened across the room, purple claws skittering.

* * *

Solar Moon half expected Ponyville to be in a burning bedlam each time they returned to it. Princess Twilight and five of her closest friends had been, essentially, replaced with six entirely different ponies! Their past selves, ignorant of all present events! How had word of his not spread throughout the general public and thrown the world into chaos? How could anypony fail to notice?!

Had Solar Moon known to ask the Apple family of their eldest daughter, or to talk to Sweetie Belle about her addled older sister, he would know that the world had not been entirely undisturbed by Starlight's mishap. But he did not know and he did not ask.

So when he and Ani portaled into town, everything seemed to be just as sunny and idyllic as it has ever been.

"Come on," Animated Universe said gleefully, springing forwards and walking on his front hooves for a few steps, just for the fun of it. He quickly collapsed back onto all four feet and called back to his companion with a grin: "I'm in the mood for some cherrychangas right about now!"

Solar, being a generally soft-spoken pony, winced a little at the way Ani's voice carried over the marketplace. Must he attract attention like that? He instinctively wanted to tell the stallion to be a little quieter, as he would do if his little sister has made the commotion. _But,_ the scholar thought solemnly, following Ani as they wove their way through the multicolored crowd of ponies, _this is not my sister. At least I haven't accidentally called him Sugar Charm yet. He really does remind me of her sometimes._

They would probably stop by the Post Office sometime during their visit to town. Solar Moon and his sister had written each other a couple of letters.

He did his best to explain the situation to her: _I may have to stay in Ponyville a while longer than expected. Please sit tight._

Her short, scribbly-written letter was all confidence: _I'm fine! You can even stay away for months, if you want! I can take care of myself. Also, Auntie can take care of myself with me but it's mostly me. Don't worry about me I'm fine be safe out there you stupid coconut I love you_

 _P.S. I hope you didn't need those 846 papers on your desk or I hope you have a fire reversal spell_

It was not an ideal situation, but Solar Moon truly felt some responsibility for dealing this potential blow to Equestria's political sphere and for victimizing six mares. And, since he'd gotten to know Starlight... Well, it would feel like abandoning a friend if he went back now.

The gold-coated stallion stopped at a carrot stand to purchase a few snacks. Meanwhile, Ani was hopping lightly and toying with his talisman in the pleasant, gentle sunshine. He held his neck out and swung the golden charm back and forth, in larger and larger arcs, until it was flying in a circle, 'round and 'round. It whistled through the air. Ani was smiling gaily. Mid carrot purchase, the scholar looked on, weary and wary. On the one hoof, Solar didn't want to take his friend's smile away. On the other hoof, that act of silliness might result in somepony getting hit by the charm.

The moment he thought of this, somepony was hit by the charm.

Sunglasses clattered onto the dirt.

A hasty "I'm sorry" was forming on Ani's lips as he ducked down to pick up the glasses and guiltily looked up at the pony he'd disturbed. To his chagrin, the words stumbled on their way out; the eyes meeting his own were blood red.

Meanwhile, the other pony's expression was apparently stuck between "pained" and "panicked". The rest of her appearance was nondescript - a cream-colored coat and a blue-and-pink mane - but her eyes! Witnessing the scene, Solar Moon's insides felt cold at the sight of her eyes. They bespoke something terrible, something powerful.

 _Is anypony else seeing this_ , Solar wondered.

The stranger hurriedly snatched up her sunglasses from the ground, an uneasy blush coloring her face. A muttered response escaped her mouth as she sped away, keeping her head down as she vanished into the crowd.

Once it was over, Ani was the first to speak.

"We live in a magical work of fiction," he said, with a tone like he was half-joking. "I should really be used to this kind of odd encounter by now."

Solar's tongue untied itself. "If you were used to it, you would forget a great many interesting things," the scholar managed. Ani was dusting himself off, already rocking back and forth with excess energy again. The reality jumper waved to a random pony and remarked as they continued through the market: "There are some ponies you don't forget."

* * *

Voices murmured in the stone corridor outside the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters. One, Spike's, was calm and explanatory. "Twilight," he was whispering, "go in there if you really, _really_ want to, but -"

"Didn't we come here for that," the purple alicorn whispered back. Having just trekked through a dark forest and gotten lost in a dark castle, she kind of felt she deserved to be in a big, bright library.

Inside of that big, bright library, a spellcaster had her eyes closed as she sat at her cluttered table.

"Yes, but..." Spike exhaled sharply through his mouth. "I didn't know this was happening, Twilight. Go in there, if you want, but don't talk to Starlight at least until I come back, okay?"

"Starlight Glimmer?"

Inside the mind of the pony in question, there was a feeling like being a balloon shooting up from the bottom of the sea. It was dark, but she was lighter and lighter as she rose...

"Yeah, her. Don't talk to her," Spike said, already stepping away.

But the balloon was her mind, or her past mind.

"Wha- Spike!" Twilight Sparkle whisper-yelled. "Spike, why -"

"She's testing!" Spike responded, breaking into a run. "Don't bug her, okay?"

The balloon broke the surface. Words, loud in the empty library, cut through the air:

"-babysit me like this. I'm fine, you can... Um." Sadness boiled into mild alarm and confusion as Past Starlight became conscious in her Present self's body.

* * *

A/N: Hey dudes :D Good to know that you're alive ~ so am I

AnimatedUniverse, I noticed that you were using that picture I put together for your Wattpad profile pic. It's kinda frowny, so I made some happier ones if you want 'em. Right here: http: (two slashes) (slash) a (slash) FNBiX

And. So. Um. You may have noticed that there was no new chapter in February. I would like to apologize. I don't know if there are really any explanations; I'm just terrible at this. Inconsistency is entertainment hell, I know, and I'm sorry for exposing you to the slightest bit of that. I hope these new pictures can almost make up for it.

Also! Snowfrost! Nightshade was introduced! I hope that wasn't, like, bad. I feel like Ani will see her again and talk to her like the peppy, friendly pony he is. What do you think?

(If her appearance here was really terrible, just tell me and I'll remove her from the chapter. She's _your_ character, after all!)

Thanks for reading and see ya next time :3


	15. Chapter 15

Hello again guys. It's been awhile.

It's been two long years, to be exact.

For that, I am sorry. I haven't updated. That's my fault. And I think it's obvious, by now, that I can't do that - can't keep this story going. I'm sorry for taking on something that I couldn't handle, and I'm sorry for dragging you guys into it. I'm sorry. I get sick every time I think of writing this, and I think of it every week.

Ani, Snowfrost... I started apologizing to you out loud, when I'm alone. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," guilty, guilty, guilty. It shouldn't be like this. I wish I were stronger, strong enough to stop dissolving like this and start doing something about it.

It's gonna be a new year. And I know that waiting isn't so nice for you either, so even though I can't keep writing this, I can end it.

So this is me, giving you the short version. Just... Saying how I'd planned for it to end.

Starlight and Solar get talismans just like Ani. Solar gets a staff, and Starlight gets a hat.

The Mane 6 do get back safely, but Starlight has to go back in time and destroy the Cutie Bond spell because, heartbreakingly, that was the only way to undo it. So fate is clicked out of place, and Starlight is immeasurably sad when Ani cannot portal over to her and Solar fails to come to town.

To make things right again, she had to make sure she and her two best-friends-in-destiny never met.

And very far away, a Solar and Ani that have never met feel sad all of a sudden. They don't know why, but they feel like they've lost somepony important.

But, later, as all three separated friends go about their day, they come across some strange objects. The talismans. An inexplicable sense of familiarity wells up within Solar and Ani, and keep the strange things. Starlight knows what they mean. She picks hers up.

And the moment the tailismans are all being held by their rightful owners, these three lonely unicorns can all remember: They met. They laughed. They endured.

And they can't help but smile, because they're destined to meet again. Solar Moon immediately starts packing, only to have Ani scare the living daylights out of him by popping out of a portal behind him.

They have bright futures ahead of them.

Starlight becomes the successor to Starswirl the Bearded and, together with Animated Universe and Solar Moon, they become the Templars of Starswirl.

Where the Mane 6 address friendship problems, the Templars assess the more magical threats to Equestria. Although friendship IS magic, so they often end up working with Twilight and the gang to smooth things out. Still, they're out in the world, tracking stuff down before it becomes too big of an issue.

The Templars' secondary mission is making magical discoveries via research. Starlight tests her many hypotheses, Solar looks to the stars for inspiration, and leave it to Ani to pop into impossible places if anyone needs more data.

The three of them are resplendent.

Solar Moon does actually have a knack for handling the connections - er, bonds - between other ponies. Once he realizes this, he gains a whole new peace of mind and sense of self.

Animated Universe is known and liked by everypony in Ponyville. Over the course of his happy new life, he gains three true friends - Starlight, Solar, and a Changeling named Nightshade.

Guys, they're your OCs, so you tell me - Do Ani and Nightshade get married? Y'know, I think they'd be happy either way. Because

Nightshade, soon after meeting the Templars, becomes their dear friend and a truly valuable ally. Sometimes, she'll accompany them on a mission, which always makes their job brighter. Who knew it could be so funny when a changeling shifts into something scarier than the ancient evil you're facing, scaring it off?

It becomes a joke amongst them all - a running bet, almost. "You can't scare off Vroth'gthar, the monster who eats entire towns," and then she actually manages to make the monster flinch and it looks so ridiculous that nopony can stop laughing...

And Starlight. Starlight Glimmer is finally self-assured again, and mostly happy.

How could she not be? She's found herself a family, after all.

They say friends are just the family you get to choose.

It's probably 2018 by the time you're seeing this. Believe whatever you want about me - that I am worthless, that I am weak. It's true, too. I hope you'll also believe that I am sorry. This ending is the best I could do. After so long, you guys deserved something better and

I've

Failed you.

So it was all I could do, to not... To not leave you hanging, about the ending. Even like this.

I hope your lives take you to happy places, you two.

It's been a joy hanging out with you through words.


	16. In Conclusion

Hi (I guess this is the last chapter update?)

Okay! I'm gonna try to keep this positive. I still feel a knot of feelings when it comes to all this and it's hard to write or think when I feel like crying.

Some tears are good, though.

Because Snowfrost, that's the nicest thing anyone's said to me. I keep crying because everything you said is like the opposite of everything I kept telling myself. That comment kind of broke my world and it's a bit of a shock to read. Against all the times I told myself "I'm worthless" and "I'm useless", you made me feel like I'd done something worthwhile. Thank you. You are unbelievably kind. I'm happy that I could make you guys happy. I'm happy that we got to meet.

Ani, AnimatedUniverse... Please don't be sorry. You had no way of knowing I was like this.

Anyhow! It is May! And I'm here to tell you "yes"! Yes, it's okay for you to finish The Cutie Bonds. There is nobody I trust more for the job. Whether you add a lot or a little, I'm sure it'll be great.

(I have an ancient dusty Wattpad account too, so I guess it's my turn to be the reviewer.)

And I'm pretty sure this website doesn't let you copy and paste stuff, right? So here's a version of The Cutie Bonds that is copyable if you need it: (slash) kre3TXb1

Thank you for reading. And... See you on another site?

Here's to the happiness yet to come


End file.
